The Road to You
by Leah C. Drawn
Summary: "Sometimes liking someone isn't logical, even if isn't irrational. Maybe it was our mayor histocompatibility complexes that liked each other, or maybe it was your pheromones. I don't know, Bells. It would be simpler for me to like some female doctor near me, but instead I like a girl eleven years my junior who just so happens to be my best friend's future sister-in-law." E/B AH AU
1. Introducing

**S'up people? It's been a while (though not _that_ much, really). This story isn't complete yet, like Chronicles of a Western Belle, but it's advanced so hopefully I won't make the time between updates that long. Um, please check the author's note at the end! Please enjoy the story, it's all in good fun. :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A ROBOT. I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT EITHER.**

* * *

"Fuck man, move it!" Isabella Swan growled furiously, feeling as though she could gut the stupid little person in front of her.

She was playing Mario Kart.

Mercilessly, though, she made a sharp twist and let her Yoshi make Baby Peach eat her dirt, sending the crib-car reeling away. She was so close, really, just about to cross over the finish line—

" _ISABELLA_!"

Just a little bit more—

"Isabella Marie Swan! Come on down this instant!"

"Yes mom!" Isabella, or Bella, as most of her friends called her, hollered back, even as she stood up, crossing over the finish line and effectively winning the cup.

 _I am the shit._

Bella rushed down before her mother decided filicide was acceptable.

"Yes, mama?"

The elegant older woman was leaning against the sink with her arms crossed.

A frown marred her beautiful face.

"How many times did I ask you to wash the dishes before I came home from work?"

She mumbled out an answer.

"What did you say?"

"Maybe once."

Renée Swan looked like she didn't quite know whether to laugh or to scream.

"I told you exactly three times personally, and sent you two other messages reminding you. And what have you been doing all this time?"

Another mumbled answer.

"Speak _up_ , Isabella."

The nineteen-year-old sighed.

"I was playing Mario Kart," before the fierce woman could go on a rant, Bella continued. "But I was going to get to it after winning one cup. I only got home like thirty minutes ago, ma, and twenty of those were spent in the bathroom."

Obviously, in this house the bathroom was always taken either by Charlie or Bella Swan.

"I swear, you're going to bleed out of your ass one of these days, Rie." Her mother scolded her, eloquent as she always was.

Herein a rundown of the family nicknames: Isabella was Rie, for Ma _rie_ , and Charles was Charlie. Renée, never one for being left out in the nickname department, was often called Rennie.

But digressing.

"I won't, mom." Bella promised, sighing as she shuffled to the sink to start washing. "How was your day?"

Renée was already pouring herself a glass of wine.

"It was good," answered the lawyer. "A slow day. My favorite kind of day, because it means I can watch TV in the meantime."

Mrs. Swan happened to be a reality TV junkie; her go to series was _Keeping Up With The Kardashians_.

 _Oh, mother of mine._

"I'm sure your clients appreciate you being happy when you receive them," Bella conceded jokingly, and could've sworn she heard her mother call her a smartass under her breath.

"How about you? How was your first day of college?"

Bella made a face.

"Fine, I guess. I had a lot of classmates, and a lot of them seemed to know each other already."

Which would make sense, seeing as Bella hadn't attended orientation day.

Whatever.

Renée sighed sadly, annoying Bella. She knew her mother was forever annoyed by her having chosen to apply for Asia Studies with a Japan concentration, and a future minor in Korea Studies. But what could she say? She was a history junkie.

"Did you see Angela?" Her mother asked, inhaling the wine with a face of pure joy, not that the dishwashing daughter could see.

Angela Webber was Bella's best friend, and a Medical Anthropology & Global Health major (or she would be, once she could declare it).

"I was going to, but she said she wanted to make friends today, and with me there it'd be impossible."

She was right, of course. Bella could be like a leech if she wanted to, which made making new friends hard.

"Did you make any friends today?"

Bella appreciated the inquiry, but currently, she just wanted to get back to her game.

"Well, I met a nice girl today. Her name's... Alice. I think. Yeah, it was Alice. She seems ok."

"And nobody else?"

"The was a cute guy in my class. Didn't catch his name though." To be honest, she'd been busy doodling. "And I talked to a couple of girls, too. I don't know their names, but they also seemed nice, if a bit too talkative."

Bella was never a fan of talking.

Renée groaned, weeping for the day she married such an introverted man who, in turn, gave her a recluse for a daughter.

"Honey, you won't make friends that way. Try to put yourself out there a bit more, ok?" Renée pleaded, but continued speaking, knowing her daughter's hatred for that type of comment. "I'm going up to my room. If your father gets here after ten, tell him not to wake me."

There had never been a day during which that wasn't the rule, but Renée always reminded her daughter.

She was such a good girl, too, thought Renée as she carried up her glass of wine and briefcase. Very kind, very funny, and wicked smart (which made her feel as though she was wasting away her talents in that major). It helped that she was beautiful, although Mrs. Swan knew that her daughter didn't feel that way; all through high-school she'd been overweight, and by the time she'd finally lost the weight, the feelings of insecurity had been ingrained too deep within her. Rie had never had a boyfriend, she knew, despite being nineteen, and all of her friends were such beauties they'd already had two or three.

 _My poor girl_ , was Mrs. Swan's last thought before she settled in bed to watch the recording of KUWTK's most recent episode.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So I was like, what do you mean, _taken_? I need to fucking sit there, bitch! But you know, because I'm a classic motherfucker I just told her that I sorta had to sit there and planted my ass down. And, get this, B; she fucking _moved_." Angela Webber chortled, clearly pleased with herself, across the landline. Bella was very old school (read: technologically inept), so she had an old-ass Nokia and didn't enjoy texting. This meant that for long conversations, her friends had to call her home, seeing as she didn't want to run out of money in her cell in case of an emergency,

"Sounds like a bitchy classmate to me," Bella agreed, taking a huge gulp of water. She was super dehydrated these days, and drinking like a gallon of water (barely) helped.

"Not just bitchy. _Dickish_." Angela retorted, munching on a Sneakers bar on the other side of the phone. "I need you in my classes. Why don't you just major the same as me?"

"Because we'd end up hating each other, and I have no interest in your career," Bella answered offhandedly, used to this question by now. "Anyways, what are you doing after your last class tomorrow? Better yet, at what time do you get out?"

"I get out at three, and I know you get out at two. Want to hang out?"

"'Course. Where do you want to go? Johnny's?" Bella inquired, already knowing the answer to that.

"As if you need to ask, girl. I'll see you there. Now I gotta roll because my mother's about to whip my ass into bacon if I don't go help her wash dishes."

Bella groaned at the memory.

"I was already put through the wringer for that today. Good luck, Ange." They bid adieu.

Staring at her computer with a faraway look on her face, Bella thought about how lucky Angela was. She was assertive, and charming, and always gave so much of herself. She was popular with the girls and lusted over by the guys. She was also one of those naturally skinny hateful people, so no matter how much junk food she ate, she barely gained a pound. Despite all of this, and how much Bella admired her best friend, she'd never resented the girl, having never been one to point fingers at unreasonable things. If she was being truthful, she'd never been jealous of the girl, but perhaps she's been, once or twice, a little wishful to be such an easygoing girl too. Not that it mattered; Bella was Bella and Angela was Angela.

Bella made another call.

"Hello?"

"Em, hi, it's me," Bella chirped happily, thankful that her brother Emmett had chosen today to pick up the phone.

"Rie, what's cracking?" Emmett asked, just as happy as his little sister. He loved the little girl as only a brother could love a sister; he'd been ten when his mother had surprised him with news of a little Belly, and nine months later, when the little baby had grasped his index finger with her tiny hand, he'd become the poster child for Overprotective Brother.

"Oh, you know, the usual. College is like high school, except with more people and teachers don't give a shit about you." Bella said, switching tabs so she could search on YouTube a rap battle Angela had told her about. "Also, mom misses her baby boy. I find that to be absurd, seeing as you both work for the same firm."

Mrs. Swan was a partner, while Emmett was a newbie lawyer.

"You know, I can't just swing by her office whenever. I've got work. Still, remind her we're seeing each other at Rose's birthday party this weekend."

Rosalie was Emmett's girlfriend of almost two years; she was an amazing girl, but she'd been working for Doctors Without Borders for the most part of their relationship. However, and much to Em's joy, she'd finally returned last week for good. This meant he was currently attempting to present her to the family with all the ferocity of a mama penguin. Somehow, despite how much all the Swan family knew of Rosalie, they'd yet to meet her. Apparently, it also helped that Em had told his girlfriend how mean his mother could be, which might've discouraged the doctor to meet the family. This, however, was something only Bella knew.

Bella was about to answer, when she heard a voice in the background telling her brother something indistinguishable.

"Oh, fuck." Emmett cursed, surprising Bella; Em rarely, if ever, cursed in front of her. "Rie, I need your help like, _now_."

"What do you need?" Bella replied immediately, warming her brother's heart.

"I left a _very_ important document at home. I need you to go get it for me and bring it here. A meeting's just about to start and I can't leave."

Bella looked at the clock; 7:34 p.m.

"I think I can make it there in twenty if I hurry."

"I need it in half an hour, so that's great. You have the key to my apartment, right?"

About four years ago, Emmett had put his foot down and had left home, claiming to need privacy. It might've had something to do with his mother finding him masturbating.

Alright, it had everything to with it.

"Yeah, I got it. Tell me where is it exactly?"

"On my kitchen counter. I'm sorry sis, I'd ask Rose, but she's on call tonight. Also... Don't be spooked by the girly stuff."

 _I guess that's how Em tells me she's moved in with him._

"Ok. I think. I'll call you when I'm on my way, Em."

"Love you, Rie."

"Love you too, bro."

Bella hung up, hollering at her mother that she had to fetch something for Emmett. In response, the TV volume went up. Figured; Mrs. Swan was a bit hard of hearing, and she could only make the TV go up so much without making the rest of the Swans want to murder her. So whenever she was left by herself, she took advantage of the opportunity and went crazy with the volume.

Grumbling to herself, Bella rushed out to her bike, her pride and joy: a black denim Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Lo. Her present for her high school graduation, it was all she ever wanted and more. So when she got it, she bought for it a leather saddlebag, a leather jacket for herself, and so she rolled.

Because traffic wasn't tragic, she managed to get to her brother's apartment in under ten minutes. She pulled in on the special spot designated for bikes, threw her bike a loving kiss and rushed up to the third floor, saying a quick hello to Rick, the doorman.

However, when she reached the apartment, she found that it wasn't empty.

There was a man there.

However, when she was just about to scream at him to get the fuck out, it was him who yelled.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?"

Indignant, Bella scowled.

"What do you mean, who the fuck am I? Who the fuck are _you_?" She analyzed the lab coat resting on the sidearm of the couch, and the scrubs the man wore, and she guessed he must not have been a thief, at the very least. "Are you one of Emmett's friends?"

He was scowling even more fiercely now, though.

"No, I'm not. I'm his _girlfriend's_ best friend. Get it? He has a _girlfriend_."

Why was he speaking to her like she was retarded?

Not wanting to waste more time, she called her brother, ignoring the man's protests.

"Hello?"

"Em, there's an angry dude here that claims to be your _girlfriend's_ best friend. Is it true, or do I call the cops?" She put emphasis on the 'special' word, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, that's probably Edward. Yeah, he is. Mean thing, ain't he? I'm gonna rip Rose a new one for letting in her friend without either of us there. Anyways, did you find the document?" As he spoke, Bella walked to the counter, thankful when she easily found the paper.

"Yeah, I got it. See you in a bit." Bella turned towards the friend —Edward. "Em says to let you stay here."

" _Who_ are you?"

Bella rolled her eyes.

"I'm Bella, Emmett's sister." She expected him to sigh out in relief, but surprisingly, he didn't.

"Yeah, right. I know her name's Rie. Emmett's always talking about her."

Rolling her eyes even more intensely, Bella walked to the nearest photo frame of the two of them. It was of the siblings during Emmett's first day of work, pre-weight loss.

" _This_ is me. I am Isabella Ma _rie_ Swan, Bella to everyone else, but Rie to my family." Bella leveled the older man with a glare. " _I_ have every right to be here, being related to the man that pays the apartment's bills. Unlike _you_ , who is just his girlfriend's friend. So yeah, I'd appreciate you treating me with a bit more respect." Bella could only hope her stare withered him. She didn't even know where all the attitude was coming from; she was normally the type to let people walk all over her.

Edward was still staring at the picture.

"This is really you?" he sounded shocked, but she looked enough like her old self she knew he couldn't deny it.

"That's really me." Bella said, snatching back the picture. "Now, I've gotta go. See you hopefully never."

She ran out.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ed, you there?" Rosalie Hale asked over the phone, a few hours later. "You've been quiet this whole time."

Edward Cullen was hesitant, to be honest.

"Rose..." He began, then stopped himself. He was about to start again when she cut him off.

"You're making me nervous, dude. Out with it."

Ok, just like a band-aid. Rip it off.

"ImettheinfamoussisterandImayhaveleftabadimpression."

" _What_?"

"I met the infamous sister and I may have left a bad impression."

"I heard you the first time. What do you mean, the sister? _Emmett's_ sister?" Horror colored her voice.

"Yeah, her. Apparently, Rie is _not_ how others call her."

"No, it's not. I think they call her Bella. Why? _What did you do, Cullen?_ "

And so he recounted the events. How he was watching the TV one moment ( _Keeping Up With The Kardashians_ , of course), and the next there's a leather-jacket-wearing teenage girl aiming to go into the kitchen.

"She seemed so sure of where she was going," Edward complained, "That I assumed she was, like, an ex girlfriend or something. Maybe even a girl on the side, I don't know."

Because man, was she certainly beautiful enough to take on Rosalie. Long, wavy thick brown hair, milky skin, full lips painted black and intelligent brown eyes. From the pictures, he could see they'd been a warm honey-like color, like Emmett's, although with more gold in them. And, yeah, he could see the big difference in weight, although if he were honest, she looked so cheerful in the pictures that he could only think that she was a pretty girl no matter what.

" _Why_ was that your first thought, you dickwad? I get it that you don't like Emmett, but this is getting ridiculous."

 _Of course I can't like the man that took the girl I love away from me._

" _He's_ a dick to me, too. Anyways, I can't see why it's such a big deal that Rie and I had a bad first impression. It'll blow over, right?"

"First of all, he's not a dick to you. It's all in your head. Second of all, it's a _huge_ deal, because what if Rie thinks I'm like that, too, and she hates me from the get-go? Emmett loves his baby sister more than anything. If she hates me, he could very well dump me. He's always warning me about his mother, but it's his _sister_ I'm scared of. He does nothing but sing praises of her, to the point where I know like I _know_ my own name that if she dislikes me, I'm out. And I do _not_ want to be out, you hear me Edwardo? And third: you're seeing her for my birthday party this weekend."

Ah, fuck.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"And then I walked out. Just like that," Bella finished recounting the story for the second time in the last twenty-four hours. The first time had been to her brother when he called her after the meeting, and the second time was now, while she ate with Angela at Johnny Rocket's.

"What an asshole," Angela scoffed, as always knowing the right thing to say.

"I know right! He had the guts to take ownership of Em's apartment like that. The nerve," Bella sipped on her milkshake, shaking her head to her statement.

"But tell me something important. Was he hot?"

Ange had a very specific way of judging people.

Bella shrugged.

"I guess. He's just a lot older, you know? If he's Rose's age, he must be like thirty. But... I think he _was_ hot," Bella conceded, reluctant. "You know, in a very Robert Pattinson sort of way. Sans weird haircuts."

That was hook, line and sinker for Angela.

"He looks like Robert Pattinson? Oh my God, why didn't you say so before, you ass!" Ange started slapping her arm over the table, description of the guy totally forgotten.

"Because it's not relevant. What _is_ relevant is what a dick he was to me, and the fact that I have to see him this Saturday." Bella reminded her, sighing when she remembered the guy. She was about to say something else when her phone started ringing. Frowning at the unknown number, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Rie?"

Bella frowned.

"Who's asking?"

"Uh, it's Edward. Edward Cullen, Rose's-"

"- _Best friend_ , yes, I know. What can I help you with?" Before he could answer, she interrupted him. "Also, it's Bella to you."

"Um, yes, sorry. Bella it is. The thing is, you know, uh, about yesterday..."

She was running out of patience.

"Out with it, Cullen. I'm with company." Not that it meant much; Angela was making googly eyes at the phone.

"Can we meet? I want to talk to you, if that's alright with you."

She considered it for a moment; he probably wanted to apologize, and she figured the least she could do was hear him out.

"I'm at Johnny Rocket's, the one by Penway. I'm leaving in half an hour. If you want to talk, that's where I'll be." Then she hung up.

Angela was staring at her, wide-eyed.

"Woah, girl. That's a whole new side of you I'd yet to see in our ten plus years of friendship."

Bella pouted.

"I know, I know. I feel like such a terrible person, but he treated me so badly yesterday! I can't help the animosity."

"But you've gotta try, alright? If he's going to apologize about yesterday, it means he already knows he did wrong. Now," Ange continued, grabbing her tray. "I've gotta roll. Class starts in twenty."

"Love you," Bella sighed.

"Love you too," Angela winked, threw away her trash and then made a dash out of there.

Content with the loneliness, Bella pulled out the latest volume of _Naruto_ , picking up where she left off.

Ten minutes later, she felt lips near her ear.

"I wouldn't have pegged you for an otaku," the low voice said, making Bella shiver and slap away the mouth.

Turning to glare at Edward, she felt a little of the anger wash away.

Not at how handsome he was, not at all, but because he'd called her an otaku.

"You read manga?"

He shook his head, taking Angela's vacated seat. He was carrying a large coffee from Starbucks (though which, she wouldn't know, because she disliked coffee).

"I watch anime, sometimes. If I have time. I read enough with medical textbooks." True enough, Bella supposed. "I thought you said you had company."

"I did. _My_ best friend. She left just a few minutes ago." Bella finished slurping her milkshake, finally. It was very easy for her to get a brain freeze, so she had to go slow with cold things.

"I see," Edward nodded, and they settled into awkward silence. "I tried sending you a text through _What's app_ , but I couldn't."

She nodded and, while munching on a fry, showed him her Stone Age phone.

His eyes almost bulged out.

" _That's_ your phone?" He blurted out. "I thought technology was the hype for all teenagers these days."

She shrugged.

"Well, _this_ nineteen year old doesn't enjoy the newest tech. I know, what a shocking concept. However, I believe I'm capable of checking my social media well enough through my laptop."

 _Nineteen_ , thought Edward. _Eleven years my junior._

"You're such an odd girl," he said, but somehow, Bella didn't feel he meant it as an insult, so she said nothing.

"What did you want to talk about?"

He pursed his lips, ran a hand through his hair, and then settled on linking his fingers and resting his chin on them. He wasn't satisfied by that, so he drunk from his forgotten coffee and kept it in his hands as he spoke.

"I wanted to apologize about yesterday," he began. "I honestly didn't think you'd be Emmett's little sister. I'd seen the pictures of the two of you but, as I'm sure you know, you've changed quite a bit. I didn't recognize you, and when I saw this girl coming into the apartment... well, I'll be honest. I thought at first that Emmett had some on the side."

She couldn't help herself.

She laughed.

"My _brother_? He can't even cheat at video-games, he sure as hell isn't gonna cheat on his girlfriend." She scrutinized the man in front of her. "He's a lot better than that, my brother."

Edward released a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, alright? I don't like your brother, so I just..." he trailed off, realizing what he'd said. He paled and tried to correct himself, but the damage was done.

"It's fine, dude. I know my brother isn't everyone's cup of tea. Besides, he snatched away your girl, right?" Bella continued as though she hadn't just fucking demolished Edward's sanity. "It's fine, I understand."

"W... What?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, you think I don't know what this is about? Rose probably threatened you to make things right with me, right? She knows my brother puts me above anything, and if I dislike her, he'd dump her," Bella continued, eating another fry. "She's right, you know. He would. And you do everything she says, because she means the world to you. Did I get it right?"

Edward was still speechless.

"Also, the lock screen for your phone is of you and Rose. That's a dead giveaway."

Oh life, just fuck him sideways.

Edward exhaled deeply, casting away all the self-hatred.

"Ok, fine. So now you know. Happy?"

"Delirious," replied Bella drily, swallowing the last of her fries. "I don't really care. I've never even met Rose, so for all I know I'm gonna root for you to steal her away from Em. If she's anything like you..." Bella trailed off, and was amused by the amount of panic on the man's face.

"No, come on, Rose's an angel. She really is. You'll love her; please, just... Give her a chance, alright? She's nothing like me. Please, Rose will skin my neck if Emmett breaks up with her because of me."

"Oh, Em already dislikes you," Bella replied easily, smirking at how much the guy paled. "Oh yeah, I told him about everything. We're each other's confidant. He said he didn't like you hanging out in his house without either him or Rose there. He might seem like an idiot, but he's a smart guy; he probably knows how you feel about Rosalie."

"Why are you so mean?" Edward whimpered. Chuckling, Bella dropped the hardass act, finally closing her manga and looking the older man in the eyes.

"I'm getting payback for yesterday. Regardless, Em and Rose's relationship is none of my business. Unless she's a bitch, or she hurts him, but otherwise I wouldn't get involved at all. Also, believe it or not, just because you and I don't get along doesn't mean I will automatically think Rose's like that. Em raves too much about her for me to believe that."

He held his breath.

"So..."

"Your secret's safe with me. And if Em breaks up with Rosalie, it won't be because of my input."

He released a breath of relief, feeling his limbs go like jelly.

"Oh thank the Lord," he collapsed in his chair, making Bella laugh. "Can I call you Rie now?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"No, I meant that. Nobody but my parents and Em call me Rie. Not Rosalie, either," Bella warned, knowing the warning would reach her ears.

"So why's it Bella again?"

"Isabella. And no, you can't call me Is, Izzy, or any variation of my name. _Just_ Bella."

"Can I ask why the aversion to your name?"

She raised the other eyebrow.

"I don't really like the name. I like Bella; besides, by now I don't actually answer to Isabella." She shrugged. "I'm not trying to be mean. I just don't like it."

"Well, you can call me anything you like, but everyone calls me Edward."

"How about Edwina? Eddie?" Bella suggested, but had to laugh at the look of horror that crossed his face. "Ok, fine, Edward it is then." But she'd save his number as Edwina.

"You're very mean, has anyone ever told you that?" Edward pouted, making Bella's lip twitch up in a smile.

"Once or twice. In my defense, you deserved it. I was going to stop, but your reactions are very amusing."

Was she a sadist?

"My reactions are _amusing_?"

Bella nodded, balling up the trash from her food and tucking away her manga.

"Sure they are. You wear your heart on your sleeve, so to say. Even yesterday, I could tell what your deal was about me being there."

"You're a very strange child," shook his head Edward, and for some reason, him calling her a child didn't make her all that happy. Edward took a sip of his coffee, noting that it was almost gone.

"A strange woman, if you will. I've got breasts and I bleed out of my vagina once a month, which means pretty much all cultures stopped considering me a child a _long_ time ago."

He couldn't help himself; he snorted out coffee.

Into Bella's face.

Shocked by his reaction, Bella couldn't decide if she was going to laugh, or be outraged, or thankful that it was an iced beverage. All she could do was stare in shock at the older man, thankful once more that she put away her book.

"Oh my God I'm _so_ sorry," Edward gasped when he managed to pull himself together and noticed the girl's face.

"I really hate you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So how'd it go?" Rose asked Edward an hour later. She was in her pajamas, flitting around the kitchen attempting to put together a simple dinner. Emmett was due back any moment, which meant Rosalie was panicking about the perfect, yet simple, meal.

"Um, well…" Edward began, scratching the back of his head. He was watching her cook from the kitchen counter; abruptly, she turned around, cutting knife in hand. He marched on, not afraid of her anymore (much). "It was fine, I think. She promised she wouldn't get involved in her brother's relationship."

The Warrior (as he'd described her pose for the longest of times) relaxed her stance.

"I sense a but coming. What did you do?"

"It wasn't about what _I_ did, it's about what _she_ did. One moment we're talking nicknames, and the next she says she's considered a woman in most societies because she's got breasts and bleeds out of her vagina, and then… I snorted my iced coffee into her face."

Rose had been laughing. Now, not anymore.

Horror had taken over.

"What did you _do_ , Edward." Rose groaned. "Hell. Emmett's so overprotective of her, we're screwed if she tells him. He'll hate you forever, and what do I do if the man I love and my best friend don't like each other?"

"We already don't like each other," Edward reminded her, ignoring the twinge in his heart at his friend's description. "It can't get much worse than that."

"Tell me, what'd she do?"

"Told me she hated me, went to the bathroom to clean herself off, and then rushed back out saying she had to go."

"She hates you." Rose confirmed, although truthfully, Bella hadn't at all hated Edward Cullen.

"I know," Edward groaned, swinging once on the chair. "Although… she said something."

"What?"

"She said that I wear my heart on my sleeve. Do you think that's true?"

 _Please say no._

"Absolutely," Rose chirped back. "You're an open book about pretty much anything."

 _Earth, please swallow me whole._

"Honey I'm ho-me!"

 _And don't throw me back out._

 _-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

"I came as soon as I could," Bella said, panting after the mini-marathon she'd just suffered through just to get to the house and up to his room. After blowing off Cullen and dashing to her bike, Bella had proceeded to race to almost the other side of town, where Jasper Whitlock, her boyfriend, lived.

 _Maybe it's time I tell mom I have a boyfriend_ , Bella thought as she got off her bike. _And that it's Jasper._

"Here it is," Jasper beamed at her, all but shoving the latest volume of _Naruto_ in her face.

Yeah, they'd bonded over their mutual geekiness. They'd known each other since freshman year of high school, and about a year ago, Jasper had finally manned up and asked her out. It had taken her a few months to give the ok.

"Finally," Bella breathed, holding the volume tightly to her chest. "Did you read it?"

Jasper nodded.

"I had to. I was too impatient not to. This is all I can say: you're gonna be _shocked_."

And few things shocked Bella these days.

"I'll read it, and I'll bring it back this week, alright?" Then she got an idea. "Actually..."

Jasper groaned.

"It sounds like you're getting an idea, Iz, and that's dangerous."

Jasper was the only person capable of calling her Isabella (or any variation of her name) without getting hit between the legs.

She grinned sheepishly.

"Well," Bella began. "You know how Emmett's girlfriend finally came back, right?"

Jasper nodded.

"Well, _apparently_ , it's her birthday this Saturday, and the whole family's invited. _So_... I could give you the volume back when we meet there." Bella finished, flashing him a wide smile.

He groaned again.

"Izzy, come _on_. You want me to meet the family at a stranger's birthday party? Don't you think Rose might be annoyed by that?"

"You've already met my parents, and you spoke once to Em," Bella reminded him, pointedly oblivious. When Jasper glared, she conceded. "Rose'll be fine with it if she wants to remain on good terms with me. If she steps on my toes, Em could very well break up with her."

"Would you break up with me if your brother disliked me?"

"Of course not."

The answer was, quite clearly, maybe.

"Besides, Em likes you. He's an avid Harry Potter fan and you have the same style of glasses as Harry. In Em's book, that alone makes you cool." This was true, too; her brother was almost embarrassingly single-minded.

Jasper was skeptical, but he didn't say it.

"I also called you for another reason." Jasper confessed, switching the subject.

"Oh yeah? Why?" Bella asked, sitting down on Jasper's bed and gripping the volume tightly, willing herself not to open it.

He blushed.

"My mom isn't coming back until Friday," Jasper admitted softly, hopefully.

Bella's face froze in place.

The manga volume was forgotten.

"Uh, Izzy, please say something."

Sluggishly, she turned up to stare at her boyfriend.

"I'm not ready," she blurted out, panicking. "You know that, right? I'm definitely not ready to progress physically."

She was too scarred to feel comfortable in her body.

Though a brief flicker of disappointment made its way past Jasper's face, he remained agreeable, and didn't seem to be _too_ put out by the statement.

"I understand, Izzy. Don't worry." He said. "Although we can do whatever it is you're comfortable with."

She released the breath she'd been holding.

"I'm sorry, Jazz. I promise I'm trying to get there, but it's hard to not freak out when I imagine you looking at my body."

Jasper frowned deeply. She'd never given this reason before, always citing one problem or another. This time, though, he felt that it was the realest argument she'd given.

"What do you mean, me looking at your body? I'll love it, just like I love you."

It was that easy, really. One moment she was freaking out over her body, and the next over the fact that the boy she loved most had told her he felt the same.

Her eyes widened, and Jasper realized what he'd said.

"Fuck," he whispered to himself, thinking how that wasn't how he wanted to tell her. He thought she was looking a little pale, and cursed himself for his carelessness. "Izzy? Say something?"

Then she launched herself off of his bed and jumped into his arms, attacking his face with kisses.

"I love you too, Jasper. So much," she said, her voice all choked up with feelings.

He sighed in relief, and Bella loved his following smile as he stalked over to her on the bed. Jokingly, he grabbed her around the waist and twisted her until he ended up lying on top of her, hip to mid thigh but nose to nose.

"I love you, silly girl," Jasper professed, closing his eyes.

"I love you, too," Bella smiled, then reached up and kissed him. He kissed her back, willing as always, and so the afternoon went.

* * *

 **So... Thoughts? Now, I want to make something clear: this is _not_ a J/B story. However, the whole E/B will happen slowly and naturally, so it'll be a few chapters before you can see that. The beginning isn't as much about Edward and Bella, although clearly it's also about them. Right now it's more about Bella and Edward as individuals, and a bit about their background story. We don't always meet our soulmates on the first try, and I think it's important to talk about the people that come into our lives that make us wonder if they're it, only to find out they aren't. Also, as you might've read, Bella used to be heavy, and although that's not the key point of this story, it _is_ important to her character. As you'll find out later on, Edward and Bella have their own demons (we all have them), and they're different but the same. It's something they had to work through, and something that helped shape their personalities. Hopefully you'll stick around long enough to find out more. :)**

 **Leah.**

 **P.S. FOLLOWS, FAVORITES AND REVIEWS ARE LOVE AND SUPER MOTIVATING!**


	2. Meet Rose

**I'm _really_ happy to see y'all are liking this story. If you like this one, check out _Chronicles of a Western Bell_ (done), _No Soul or Heart_ (the last chapter, which is the whole story revamped), and _Golden Bindings_ (oneshot). Um, if you want a really quick assessment of them all, it goes like this: CWB is about a tomboyish girl who's been hurt and has sworn off love - _especially_ never with her best friend, Edward. NSH is about unrequited love (yay!). And Golden Bindings is about self-love; personally, it's one of the stories I feel I'd like people to take something away from. That one does have more as the center of the story Bella being overweight, and I tried to make her relationship with Edward progress as naturally as possible. Hopefully, you'll read any of these stories and fall in love with them, as I loved writing them. Now read on! **

**P.S. I loved your response to the story so much I'm updating it today, too, you beautiful people.**

 **DISCLAIMER: STILL DON'T OWN ANY NOVELS.**

* * *

Saturday came too fast, much to Bella's frustration. She was excited to meet Rose, but nervous beyond belief to formally introduce Jasper as her boyfriend; she had a nagging feeling that Em would be the typical overprotective brother throughout the meeting.

She was right.

When Jasper arrived at her house as planned, her parents were surprised.

Mr. Swan had opened the door.

"Rie, Jasper's here to see you! Either that, or you've got some 'splaining to do, Rennie!" Charlie had hollered to the house, laughing at his own bad joke. He could always count on himself to laugh, though. It was a dad thing. Jasper was let in, and a few minutes later, Bella had called her parents down to the kitchen.

"What is it, honey?" Her dad had asked, closing the math book. A graduated engineer, he now taught math at a prestigious school. Thanks to him, she'd gone to that high school and met there Jazz.

"Yeah, what is it? We've got to get going in like five minutes," her mother had said, punctuality personified, as always.

Jasper had flashed her a panicked stare, but Bella had proceeded calmly.

"Jasper's coming with us to the party." Bella declared, making her parents' eyebrows raise.

"Oh, really? How come?"

Then Bella shrugged.

"He's my boyfriend."

Then their jaws dropped.

They _hadn't_ seen that coming.

 _I hope they're using protection_ , was all Mr. Swan thought as he greeted his old student.

"Jasper, my boy, I hope you'll treat my daughter right," was all he said, smiling and clasping Jasper's hand firmly.

"Of course, sir."

 _He's cute, I suppose, but too lanky,_ thought Mrs. Swan, hugging the young boy.

"And don't just read manga together," she chuckled, making the couple blush. Busted. "How long have you two been going out?"

This time, it was Jasper who answered.

"Um, I asked her out a year ago, but she finally agreed to date me eight months ago."

Mr. Swan cut his eyes towards his daughter, smiling widely. He knew what the time range meant; he'd asked her out back when she hadn't lost all of the weight. She'd started the weight loss about a year and a half ago, and had finished a while after she started going out with Jasper.

The time range meant a lot to Bella, too. It meant that he'd liked her, extra weight included. When she'd asked him why he'd asked her out mid-weight loss, and not before or after, he'd answered that it was simply the time during which she'd started looking like she felt good about herself.

And she had.

"Brave man," her father applauded him, making Bella frown. "What? It's true. It's not every guy that pursues a stubborn, unwilling woman for months. It affects the ego."

Mrs. Swan snorted.

"Oh please, Charlie, you pursued me for _three years_ and I didn't even give you the time of the day. I don't see how your ego suffered one bit."

Bella laughed out loud, and Jasper restrained himself to a smile.

"They were agonizing three years, during which I seriously considered giving up every five minutes."

"You were waiting for me to turn eighteen, you dimwit. You couldn't _not_ have waited."

Bella tutted.

"Oh dad, going after a fifteen year old girl. You're bad. Real bad." She loved teasing her father about it, though she knew that her father had been besotted with Mrs. Swan since the day she snarled at him to stop letting the freshmen pick on him. It was either love or masochism at first sight.

"Shut it, punk," grumbled her father with a wink. He loved his little girl wholly.

"Anyways, we've got to get going now. We're already ten minutes late as is," said Mrs. Swan, strict as always.

 _Definitely masochism at first sight._

"Yeah, Em just texted me to get my behind there," Bella said, looking at the old Nokia. Possibly, the one with the most beef about Bella's ancient phone was Jasper; because it was so ancient, she couldn't send him any sexy pictures (not that she would, as he now knew) and he couldn't text with her for extended periods of time, due to how difficult it was for her to write. That, combined with the knowledge that Bella archived no conversation between them (lack of space), meant Jasper was working very hard to convince Bella to let her parents buy her a smartphone.

"Impatient," Mr. Swan huffed, but he grabbed his jacket and car keys from the counter.

"We'll follow you," promised Bella, grabbing Jasper's hand and flashing her parents a smile. In other words: I'm not riding with you.

"Fine," sighed her mother, mindful of not embarrassing her daughter in front of her first boyfriend. "Let's go."

Walking out to the front of the house, Bella handed her boyfriend his helmet, zipping up her leather jacket and tying her hair in a low ponytail. They waited for the soccer mom van to pull out of the garage to get on the bike, put on their helmets and send a last prayer for good weather today.

Jasper also sent a prayer for his survival.

Bella drove like a madwoman, but because he loved her, he'd stopped telling her after their sixth month of dating. That, and because she'd been dangerously close to biting his head off.

Almost half an hour later, they were pulling into some _very_ nice suburbs. The house was at least three stories high, it had a pool and there were about a dozen cars parked out front. The party was being held in Rose's childhood home, for obvious reasons.

"Do I look ok?" Asked Jasper nervously, pulling at his button up. Bella gave him the once over and a thumbs up.

"Rie!" She heard the joyful cry one second, and then the next she was tackled by her bear of a brother.

"Em!" She returned the warm sentiment, wrapping her arms around him. "It's been so long!" She joked.

She saw him that morning when she helped him run errands.

"Too long," he cried woefully, separating from her. He finally noticed his parents, so he went over and hugged them. Em had been taught he was never too grown up to hug his parents, and so he always did, adding a kiss for his mom.

That's when Em noticed the extra person.

"Jasper Whitlock," rumbled Em, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Jasper shot Bella a panicked look; she'd said he probably wouldn't remember their only interaction.

What they didn't know was Em had seen the way Jasper had looked at his sister, and had taken careful note.

Overprotective brother indeed.

"Uh, um, hi. I'm Jasper..." He was gonna leave it there, but Bella dug her elbow into his side. "Bella's boyfriend."

Emmett's eyes got incredibly small, and he was about to say something (probably really intimidating) when a tall, modelesque woman came up behind him and slapped his shoulder.

"Emmett, be nice." Rose scolded, smiling behind him. "I'm sorry. I guess he's on edge about so many people coming over today."

Bella didn't know whether to stare or roll her eyes. Stare because she was so beautiful, and roll her eyes because Emmett could've been at a Buddhist temple having the time of his life and he would still overreact to meeting his little sister's first boyfriend.

 _Besides_ , thought Bella, _you don't have to apologize for my brother. I know him pretty well, too._

She shook away the thoughts.

"Hi, I'm Rose, Emmett's girlfriend."

 _No duh_ , Rose screamed inside herself, hating the first impression she was giving already.

"Hi, nice to meet you, sweetheart," Mr. Swan smiled comfortingly. "I'm Charlie, and this is my wife, Renée." They each hugged her. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," Rose smiled, feeling comforted by the older man. Mrs. Swan smiled, too, but she didn't seem as friendly as her husband.

"I'm Bella, Em's sister," Bella's smile could have frozen the Black Sea. "And this is Jasper, my boyfriend. Happy birthday, _Rosalie_."

Rose's face paled.

 _Fuck, Edward swore he'd fixed things with her._

"Hi, Bella. It's so nice to finally meet you," Rose's smile widened, trying to make things better. Jasper had shot Bella a look that asked, 'Why you being so bad?' And Bella shot him back one that said 'It's funny'. Rose hadn't caught that, though. "Again, I'm very sorry about Edward. He was caught off-guard the other day."

The Swans and Jasper looked at each other with confused faces, and in that moment, Edward appeared.

"Hi family," Edward arrived, smiling wide. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rose's best friend, Edward."

Mrs. Swan and Jasper had to stop themselves from falling over themselves in an attempt to get a closer look at the man. _Hot_ couldn't begin to describe him.

"Edgar Collins," Jasper gasped, and Edward couldn't help chuckling at the comparison. Ever since _Dawning_ had come out, almost everyone who met him had the same reaction. He even had the same bronze hair, although to be fair, he wasn't a vampire that sparkled in the light and had an unhealthy habit of watching girls they barely knew sleep.

"Almost, man. You are...?"

Jasper stuck out his hand.

"Jasper Whitlock, Bella's designated boyfriend." He joked, making Bella laugh. He always did. Edward saw the way Bella lit up when her boyfriend spoke, and he couldn't help a twinge of disappointment. He'd half-hoped that she was interested in him, despite the age gap. Also, despite his lingering love for his best friend, but that would fade any moment now. He was well on his way of being halfway there to getting over her. Small details.

Rose noticed, but archived the data for later.

"I'm Charlie Swan, and this is my wife Renée. We're Emmett's parents." Edward noticed that they seemed a lot more easygoing than Emmett, even if the wife had yet to crack a smile.

"Oh, mom," Bella began, remembering something she'd noticed. "Edwina here is a fan of _Keeping Up With The Kardashians_."

Edward shot the young girl a panicked look, thinking he was being thrown under the bus. At first he wondered how she knew, and then he remembered when they'd met, he'd been watching the show.

Renée Swan's eyes immediately lit up.

" _Really_? You are?" Then Mrs. Swan grabbed the handsome Edgar around his strong biceps and led him away so they could talk reality TV.

Charlie sighed in defeat and left to follow his wife into the party.

This left the two couples alone.

"So, sister of mine."

"Brother."

"When were you going to tell me you got a boyfriend?"

Bella shrugged.

"Today."

He squinted, looking at the young lovers. He didn't like what he saw.

Rose thought they looked cute.

"And since when have you two been—"

"Babe, let them breathe. You're going to drive them out," Rose said softly, clasping her hand with his. He stopped, and that's when Bella realized that the only way he'd break up with Rosalie was if the she literally killed his little sister.

Bella laughed heartily.

They all looked at her oddly.

"Rie?" Emmett frowned, hunching to get a better look at her.

She wiped away a stray tear and bounded over to Rose, reaching up on her tiptoes to hug her around the neck.

"Treat my brother well, Rose," she whispered in her ear, then let go, winking at the stunned woman. "Come on Jasper, let's go get something to drink. Smell ya later, bro," Bella laughed, grabbing Jasper's hand and leading him away.

Bewildered, Rose turned to her boyfriend.

"What just happened?"

Em smiled widely, truly happy.

"We just got Rie's blessing."

Rose's mouth dropped.

"How do you know that? What if she hadn't given it?"

 _Would you have broken up with me?_

 _I would've fought for you, Rosie._

"Well, that's the second time ever that Rie has given a blessing to one of my relationships. If she hadn't..." Em thought of his ex girlfriends and how quickly after that they'd broken up. "Let's say Rie can have an attitude."

Second time?

"Which was the first time?" She couldn't help asking, and something dark passed by his handsome features, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"My second to last girlfriend. Anyways, this is the quickest assessment Rie has made. She must've seen how much I love you," Emmett smiled, and just like that her worries faded.

"You stupid man," Rose grumbled, but slipped her hand back into his, letting the present be the only thing that filled her mind.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Smiled Bella, walking leisurely to the non-alcoholic beverages. She didn't like alcohol, so she didn't suffer about not being able to drink. Jasper, however, could've used a shot (or five) of tequila.

"It was ok," he relented, wrapping his arms around her from behind and laying his head on her shoulder. She was so small, he marveled. Not like the Rose girl, who was all legs and boobs. "Not that I ever want to go through that again."

"Hey, I met your parents, didn't I? That was awkward."

"No, _you_ made it awkward."

Bella grinned.

"Yeah, I did."

 _Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock. My father's the reason your son flunked math._

"You're bad," Jasper said, shaking his head, but his smile betrayed him. He loved this crazy girl. "Also, what was that about?"

"What?" Bella asked, pouring ice for the two of them.

"That thing with Edward, and then with Rose."

"Oh, that," Bella nodded, remembering. She snatched the bottle of Diet Coke for herself and the Root Beer for Jasper. "I ran into Edward when I went to Em's apartment the other night. He behaved like an ass, so under Rose's threat, he met me at Johnny's to make nice with me. He's a cool guy, but super easy to tease. With Rose... That was a test. I wanted to see if she was right for my brother. She passed," Bella shrugged.

Jasper was confused about everything, but he'd learned not to question Bella too much. On one hand, he trusted her. On the other hand, she'd attempt to explain her logic but would only confuse him more.

"So you met up with Edward at Johnny's," Jasper redirected the conversation. "How did that go?"

Bella shrugged again.

"Well, I suppose. He was all nervous, and I really hadn't wanted to meet up with him. Then I realized he was quite obviously in love with Rosalie, and that just gave me ammo to use against him. I mean, his reaction when he realized he's an open book was priceless." Bella chuckled to herself, picturing the moment in her head.

"You seem to get along well with everyone, Izzy," Jasper noted, thanking her for the glass.

"Not everyone," Bella disagreed easily enough.

"Oh, come on, who—" then he realized who she was speaking of. "Oh."

"Yes, _oh_."

Maria Keaton was Jasper's childhood friend.

She was also painfully in love with her best friend and a thorn in Bella's side. She would've felt bad, but the sabotaging, conniving bitch was too awful for her to feel that way.

But like in any good drama, she was only that way to Bella.

Once, she tried to expose the bastard. It had backfired, though, and had led to Jasper taking Mary Jane's side (as Bella usually called her). It got so bad that they almost broke up. It took Jazz admitting how much he wanted Bella by his side, in front of Mary Jane, for her to finally let go of the subject.

It was safe to say Jasper now knew of the bad blood between them.

"You know, you really should play nice with her. Maria's still my best friend." Jasper reminded her for the billionth time, and the venomous glare Bella threw his way could've poisoned a snake.

"You know how I feel about her, Jasper. That I haven't thrown a tantrum about her doesn't mean I don't want to," she warned, knowing that Mary Jane must've already thrown her own childish fit. "Any girlfriend with _my_ kind of self-esteem would've already made you choose between us, but I trust you, and I wouldn't want to control you that way. Don't confuse my necessity for peace with liking Maria or not caring."

Jasper started protesting about her words.

"No, Jazz! How would you like it if suddenly, I told you that I was hanging out at midnight with Jake, for instance? That when you and I aren't speaking, I'm confiding in him?"

Jacob Black was the son of a family friend. He'd gone to high school with Bella and Jasper, and once Bella had shed the weight, he'd taken a keen interest in her. Bella had made the mistake of replying to his messages — _once_ — to tell him to beat it, and Jake had seen it as an opportunity to gloat to Jasper that 'his girlfriend wasn't interested in him anymore'. Bella had almost kneed him, but worse still, Jasper had gone on a rant about how Bella couldn't lead the guy on.

"It's not the same," Jasper groaned, but Bella was having none of it.

"How so? I've known him my whole life. I like him as a person, and he likes me as more than a friend. How is that different from you and Maria?" Ranted Bella. She'd only ever spoken with Jasper once about his relationship with the other girl, and she didn't know why she was broaching the subject now. Ok, so she knew, but she didn't want to think about it.

"She doesn't feel that way about me," Jasper argued, but even to his ears, that sounded like a lie. He exhaled deeply, hanging his head. "What do you want me to do about it, Iz? Cut off my friendship with her?"

Bella shook her head.

"I want you to stop pushing us together. I'll trust you to push her away romantically, and I won't nag at you of your whereabouts when you're out with her. I don't want to know. But please, if I tell you she said something passive aggressive or outright mean, believe me. You don't have to confront her, and you don't have to stand up for me. I'm not asking you to end your relationship with her, or to fight her in any way. But stop brushing me off if I tell you she rolled her eyes at me or something. Stop trying to get us to be friends. And stop automatically taking her side, as if my arguments aren't even worth considering. Is that too much to ask for? And that's _not_ a rhetorical question." Bella attempted to express herself to the best of her abilities, too focused on her boyfriend to even notice that Edward had escaped the fangirl session and had been too near the couple during most of the altercation.

Jasper shook his head; no, it wasn't. He knew, despite how crazy she sounded, she was making reasonable requests.

"I _am_ sorry, you know? It's difficult to take your side when I've always been on Maria's side, even if _you're_ the girl I love. You... _Do_ know, right? That Maria's like a biological sister to me," Jasper said, and he meant it. He could never see her that way.

"I know that," Bella relented. "But it's always nice, being told. I'm not saying this out of jealousy for Maria in a romantic way; I'm jealous of her for being the closest friend to you."

Jasper stepped closer to his girlfriend and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"You mean much more to me than you realize."

He meant much more to her, too.

Feeling awkward, Edward coughed, stepping into the conversation.

The couple broke away, blushing.

"Hello, lovebirds," Edward boomed, and for some reason, it took Bella meeting the man three times to realize just how silky his voice was. And how much it resounded. And, frankly, how attractive she found him. Robert Pattinson had nothing on him.

"Edward," Bella greeted easily enough, and for a moment, Jasper resented how easy interacting was for his girlfriend. "Did you have a pleasant talk with my mother?"

"I did, actually, until I found she was a Lord Disick fan. That man's a rotten bastard," he groused, making Bella laugh at him.

"Mom really likes Scott. I don't know how many times he's broken up with whichever Kardashian, but one time, when mom found out, she made all of us re-watch the episode with her so we could dissect every little piece of information, ignoring the fact that none of us could care less."

"He's an ass," Edward shook his head, still unwilling to let go of the subject. When he saw Rose in the distance, however, he changed his mind. "Oh, sorry guys, I'll be right back." He said, and then he jogged over to her.

"Rose, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked, pulling her away from a surely stimulating conversation with her great-aunt.

"Oh yeah. Excuse me for a moment, Aunt Maggie," Rose smiled, letting herself be led away.

He moved them somewhere nobody could hear them.

"So?"

"So what, Edward?"

" _So_ , how'd the meeting with Bella end?" He asked, obviously eager to find out the answer from her.

"Surprisingly good," chirped back Rose. "I said something to Emmett, and suddenly Bella started laughing, came up to me and hugged me, and then told me to treat her brother well. Then she left."

Edward's eyebrows climbed up.

" _Really_? Just like that? What did Emmett say?"

"He swears that meant she was accepting me. And, get this, then he told me that was the second time that ever happened. Which means there might be an ex-girlfriend out there that had Bella's approval!"

Edward flinched; Swan really shouldn't have said that.

"Want me to find out more about it?"

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Rose demanded to know, and when she saw the direction his eyes flickered in, she shook her head profusely. "No, no way. Emmett says she's approved of me, but what if she really hasn't? She'll think I'm a jealousy-crazed thirty year old hag!"

Edward shot her a look.

"What's age got to do with it?"

She felt old, especially being surrounded by younger people, but she wasn't about to admit it.

"Shut up."

"Besides, Rose, I think that if Emmett made such a statement, it's only logical you'll want to know more about it. If you don't want me to ask her about it, though, I won't do it." He relented, although he really would have appreciated the chance to speak to Bella. He felt an odd attraction to her, the beautiful young girl that had wicked wits and intense brown eyes. Maybe it was that instinct older people had to be cool to the younger generations; maybe it was the crazy impulse to speak to beautiful people most humans seemed to have.

Whichever it was, Edward just knew he was strangely willing to talk to a nineteen-year-old girl.

"I'm desperate enough that I'll take you up on your offer. Be subtle about it, though," Rose warned, knowing about Edward's tendency to just barrel ahead.

"Fine. But take the boyfriend to the side; he stares at me too much."

 _The curse of being beautiful_ , thought Rose to herself, agreeing.

Being the uncool old people that they were, they approached the young couple, attempting for nonchalance but only achieving a look of suspicion. Jasper and Bella shared a look, but they indulged the two as Rose claimed to want to strengthen the bond between Jasper and Emmett, leading away the young boy. Edward stayed behind, claiming Jasper's seat.

"So," Edward began.

"So," parroted the girl. She was really curious about what his next words would be.

"I heard something interesting from Rose, and I really want to check."

"So you can go back to report?" Teased Bella, laughing when all Edward had to offer was a sheepish smile. "Ok, tell me what's the matter."

"Well," began again the doctor, scratching his neck. "I heard that apparently, you've only ever approved of one other of Emmett's girlfriends, besides Rose. Is this true?"

Bella flinched at the mention.

"If the question is whether or not I really did approve of your bestie, the answer is yes. Although if I'm made to speak of Em's ex, I might change my mind," Bella grumbled.

Edward's pulse skyrocketed. This was it; this was where he found out Emmett had a baby momma waiting for him back in Thailand.

Being the open book that he was, Bella caught the strange look.

"They ended in bad terms, alright? Don't think of anything weird." Bella frowned, sighing when she realized she was going to have to tell him about the situation. "Look, I'll tell you, but you better warn Rose not to ask my brother about it. He's never going to stop being sore about it, and it might spark a version of Em she probably doesn't want to know about. Alright?"

He nodded seriously.

"Em's second to last girlfriend was my friend first. That's why I'd approved of her. I was taking Japanese classes, and she was my teacher. One day, Em came to pick me up, and sparks flew. This was probably six years ago, and they dated for three. I'm sure Emmett hasn't seen her since."

"Are you going to tell me why they broke up?"

Bella sighed.

"No, I'm not. You asked to know about her, and that's all I'm willing to tell you. I barely know you, dude."

Unfortunately, she had a point.

"But why not?" Edward whined, and despite how annoying Bella knew she should find it, she didn't mind the annoying tone all that much.

"Because that's private," Bella imitated him, giving him a pointed look. "I'm not one to air out my brother's dirty laundry."

"So it was his fault," Edward wrongly deduced, and he knew this when he was met by Bella's scathing look. "Or not."

"Not. Seriously though, you might want to tell Rose not to bring it up. He doesn't like talking about it. At all."

Edward was seriously curious, but he could see he would get nowhere with this girl.

What _had_ actually happened? May Oyakawa had been a young, beautiful woman that had infiltrated Bella's heart with ease. She'd thought the Japanese girl was damn near perfection. Kind, quiet, sharp and a part-time model, May had been everything her loud, overbearing brother had needed. They'd been wonderful three years, and Em had been on the search for the perfect proposal ring. Right around that time, Bella had reached the height of her overweight, even classifying as Obese type I. Her family had been concerned, but none had managed to get through to Bella. Then May had vented to one of her friends, but it had been the wrong place, and the wrong time.

Bella had heard every mean word she'd said.

"That girl is a fat cow if I've ever seen one. I keep telling Emmett to take her to the nutritionist, but he tells me to back off! Can you believe it? His sister is about to die of a heart attack, but he'd rather not hurt her feelings! Seriously, Kathy, she doesn't look good at all. It'd be a wonder if she ever gets a boyfriend." May had ranted, and every word had felt like a stab at the sixteen year old. She'd heard her when she'd gone to the Japanese academy's bathroom, and May hadn't counted on the girl going on a day off.

Bella had cried the whole way home.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Mr. Swan had asked, worried, and through blubbering tears she'd recounted the events. She'd begged him not to tell Emmett, and he'd agreed, but not even twenty minutes later he'd gone to his son's apartment to yell at him to break up with his girlfriend.

Emmett had wasted no time in dragging the woman through the mud with his own mean words, so ending the three year relationship.

It was humiliating for Bella to retell the story, so she never did.

She also knew, from encountering her drunk brother once, how guilty he felt.

"She was always so wonderful to me, Rie," he'd blubbered. "But how could I stay with her after the shit she said about you? I didn't want to be mean to her, but you'd hate me if I hadn't returned her insults threefold!"

Bella also carried her own amount of guilt over the incident.

May never should've said that, but Bella had wondered, for the longest time, if she should've kept the incident to herself. Maybe it had been the one and only time she'd said something like that; maybe she was meant to be Emmett's soulmate, and she'd blown it.

Thanks to Rose, though, she felt like she could finally stop asking herself that.

"But don't you think an ex is something any couple should talk about? Don't you and Jasper speak of your exes?" Edward insisted, leaning forward on his seat. He was close enough that he could see Bella wasn't wearing any kind of makeup, and her lashes really _were_ that long.

She pressed her lips together.

"Neither Jasper nor I have any ex to speak of. We're each other's first," she explained. "But Em has four ex girlfriends in total. One is married with twins and the other is engaged. The fourth ex is not interested anymore in my brother, and the third might as well be dead to Em. Has your curiosity been satisfied?"

Not at all.

"How can you be so sure his fourth ex isn't interested?"

Bella shrugged.

"I have lunch with her every Monday."

Emmett's last girlfriend, Victoria Hunter, hadn't lasted long. Really, she'd been more of a rebound. After Em and May broke up, he'd gone on blind dates until he'd settled for Vic, a journalist four years his junior that he'd met at his gym. The relationship had lasted less than six months, and they'd broken up because Em had met Rose and had liked her more than Vicky. They'd met after an icy patch had led Emmett to the ER with a broken arm, and Rose had been there for him when Vicky couldn't.

Bella hadn't particularly liked Vicky. She'd been unwilling to like any of Em's girlfriends after May, so she'd never approved of the last girlfriend. Once they finally broke up, with Vicky citing 'being unable to put up with Emmett's shit anymore', Emmett had asked out Rosalie, and the rest was history. A year after their breakup, Bella had run into Vicky at Target, and this had ended with them buying $200 worth of makeup plus food. After that, a friendship developed between them that neither had expected.

Bella still thought Vicky and Emmett hadn't been a right fit, though.

"You eat with Emmett's ex-girlfriend?" Edward repeated, totally disbelieving. " _Why_?"

"We're friends. She's a very cool person, you know. You might even like her, now that I think about it."

She'd thought about it when Jasper had made the comparison to the _Dawning_ character, given how much Vicky loved the movies.

"I don't need a date, alright, kid? I can get a girl by myself." He snapped at her, and Bella had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. It seemed like that was a recurring thing.

"What? Blind date gone wrong recently?"

Edward flinched; bingo.

"You're a very mean girl, you know that?" He complained, which Bella found amusing, given that nobody else had ever described her that way.

"So you tell me," she laughed easily enough. "Although, to be fair, you make it too easy."

He groaned; he was being mocked by a brat.

"How'd you manage to snatch a boyfriend with that meanness of yours?" He groaned again, but this time, Bella didn't laugh. "Bella?" Had he said the wrong thing?

"I don't know," she quietly confessed. "I rejected him many times, but he persisted. Jasper's an amazing guy, and he deserves better than such a self-conscious girlfriend." She sighed, breaking out of her trance. "Then again, one person's loss is another one's win, aye?" She winked, gulping down her soda.

"You're a strange girl, Bella," Edward noted, and was about to say something else when he saw Emmett coming this way. "I've gotta roll, B. The elder Swan is coming this way, and we get along much better while being apart."

Edward ran away, easily finding Rose and Jasper.

"Izzy," Emmett greeted, giving her a fond tap on the head. "How's it cracking? I see you're getting along well with Edward."

Bella shrugged.

"I like him, but I think he's sort of scared of me. Well, of us, really. What did you do to the poor man?"

"Me? Nothing. I just don't like the way he looks at Rosie, if you know what I mean." Em gave her a pointed look, which she understood perfectly. Yeah, her brother was definitely no fool, even if it didn't seem like it most of the time.

"By the way, Em, what possessed you to tell Rose about May? I know you didn't say anything outright, but you gave her enough of a hint that she got worried. She even sent her greyhound to investigate."

Em sighed, frowning slightly.

"I don't know. I mean, there's a part of me that really wants to tell her, you know? Speak to her openly about May; I feel like I'm keeping her a secret, and I don't want to anymore. But there's another part of me that is afraid she'll break up with me on the spot."

"Why would she?" Bella asked, really not understanding his reasoning.

"She might be turned off by my overprotectiveness of you. I mean, most girls want to be their significant other's number one girl, right? Me telling her I broke off a three-year relationship because of you would scare her off, wouldn't it?" He said, and noticed when Bella flinched. "Oh, I didn't mean—"

"Yes you did, Em," she sighed, not wanting to hear a fake apology. "I know it pained you to break up with her because of me, when things had been going so well. It bothers me that you regret it so much. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all," she pondered out loud, for some reason sharing her logic for the first time in three years. "I wouldn't have regretted it," she whispered to herself, out of earshot.

"No, Rie, that's wrong. I can't regret not staying with a woman who said something so horrible," Em insisted, and the words rang true but heavy.

"Do _you_ wish I hadn't said anything at all?" Bella questioned, sad. "Would it have been better to stay quiet? You say one thing, Emmett, but your face says another."

"Come on, Isabella, please—"

"Tell mom and dad that I left, please. I don't want to stay anymore," she whispered, somehow feeling broken-hearted.

"But Rie," Emmett began, but couldn't continue since his sister fled. He sighed deeply, slipping down his seat, feeling like the scum of the earth. He hadn't been able to answer honestly, once more.

Bella sped towards the other trio.

"I'm sorry Rose, but Jasper and I have to go. It was very nice meeting you, though," Bella said hurriedly, hugging Rose and giving Edward an air kiss. "It was nice seeing you again, Edward," she said, grabbed Jasper's hand and fled the scene.

"Izzy, wait a second. Iz, come on. Isabella!" Jasper finally lost it when they were standing in front of Bella's bike. He was about to scold her for the abrupt goodbye when he saw her beautiful eyes were filled with tears and her cheeks were a splotchy red, meaning she was as frustrated as she was angry. "Baby, what happened?"

"Please drive us away from here," she croaked, giving him the keys to her prized bike. His eyebrows rose up; this had only happened once before, and Bella had explained it was because she couldn't drive when she was so upset. He'd seen her attempt to drive with a broken wrist, and the argument that had ensued over her letting him drive her had been incredibly tough and had included him pointing out she could total her beloved bike if she drove like that.

"Alright. Let's go," he said softly, mounting the bike, and off they went.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"What did you say to your sister?" Rose stomped up to her boyfriend, hands on hips, furious that her chance to get to know her (possible) future sister-in-law had been blown by none other than Emmett. "She came up to us, said goodbye and dragged her boyfriend off with her. What happened?"

Emmett was gulping down whisky like it was his job.

Angered, Rose ripped it away from him and gave it to Edward for safekeeping, then shot said man a look that said quite clearly: beat it. Wondering where Rose had locked away his balls, he went away.

"I don't want to talk about it," Emmett wallowed, resting his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands.

Rosalie frowned even harder than before.

"Oh no, none of that. It's my birthday party, and you're doing a fantastic job of upsetting me. Now tell me what's wrong with your sister."

"She's the reason I broke up with May, alright?" His head shot up, and she could see his eyes were bloodshot.

"May?"

"My longest relationship. I broke it off with her because of Bella, alright? There, now you know. You can stop sending Cullen to find out more."

From his statement, Rosalie understood a few things. For one, that she'd been right, and Emmett really would tell her to beat it if his sister didn't like her. Second, that he really must've been upset to not call his little sister Rie. Third, that someone (Bella) must've spilled the beans, but for some reason, Rose didn't think she'd done it with bad intentions. And fourth, that there had been such a thing as another long-time girlfriend for Emmett.

"What do you mean you broke it off with her because of Bella? Did she not like her?"

 _Edward apparently didn't have the chance to inform Rosie_ , thought Emmett. Of course, he didn't know what information Bella _had_ divulged.

"May and Rie got along great. One day, though, Rie found out May was saying mean things about her because of her weight. I cut things off with May immediately."

Rosalie was waiting for the punchline, thinking of what a bitch the May girl was.

"And? How'd that make Bella upset?"

"She feels guilty. Says I regret breaking up with May because of her."

Rosalie's mouth suddenly felt very dry.

"And do you?"

"I don't miss her, if that's what you're asking. I've got you, Rosie, and you're all I want. But yeah, in the past I felt bitter about the fact that I had to break up with May because of a lapse of judgement on her part." Emmett sighed, looking up again at his girlfriend. He found a face filled with disappointment.

"Rosie?"

"I can't believe you."

 _There it is_ , thought Emmett. _She'll break up with me because I'm a sis-con._

"I can't believe you'd even allow Bella to think, for a _second_ , that it was her fault. I can't believe you don't harbor pure anger towards May, who even dared _think_ a mean thing of the sister you proclaim means so much to you! It wasn't just a lapse of judgement; it was a person who chose to say something that could potentially hurt your family member. You say you love your sister more than anything, but quite frankly Emmett, I'm doubting that," Rosalie shook with anger, disbelief written all over her face. She'd worried so much about stepping on Bella's toes that she hadn't realized the only thing she really had to do was apparently not be a dick to her face.

Emmett blinked in confusion; that hadn't gone how he thought it would.

"What?"

"You are making things right with your sister. I can't believe you, Emmett Swan. Saying you love Bella, then blaming _her_ for the shit your ex-girlfriend said. A bit beyond me, really. Unbelievable," she scoffed, furiously standing up from the seat she'd taken. "I'm going over to your parents', throwing you under the bus and making them love me." She growled, gave one last huff and stumped over to Mr. and Mrs. Swan.

Edward, who'd overheard as he came back to tell Rose she couldn't keep bullying him, shook his head as he bypassed Swan.

"Asshole."

* * *

 **How'd you like Edgar Collins? I would've made a sexier name, but I find somehow the aliases I always give hot guys are very dumb. Like, I dubbed a guy I found super hot in high school Ramone, and you wouldn't necessarily associate Ramone and sexy. Mmm... Maybe Bella will be, like, Ismaela Sweeny? Or something. I've got to think about this seriously; if any of you want you can give me suggestions.**

 **On another note, you'll see I didn't list this story as Romance/Humor or /Drama, and that's because I don't feel like I'm especially humorous or especially dramatic. I love humor, which is why I try my best to slip in dumb jokes, and drama's sort of necessary to make this shebang interesting, so I slip it in, too. Anyways, leave me some love. :)**

 **Leah.**


	3. Altercations

**Ok guys, really, your response to this fic has been overwhelmingly nice. As an author, getting a review is a cringeworthy thing, because that review could either really lift your spirits or make you sad. So far, though, I can't even count one negative review! Yay! I mean, it's inevitable that someone at _some_ point will dislike it, but right now, I'm just so grateful for the amount of niceness I've been receiving. Thank you so much, and now read!**

 **DISCLAIMER: SAME AS ALWAYS.**

* * *

Jasper drove them to a quiet park; their spot.

He left the bike someplace he could keep an eye on it; escorting the too-silent Bella to a bench, he sat her down, then squatted so he could look up at her.

She was red, crying and shaking.

"It's ok, Izzy," Jasper encouraged, and that was all the encouragement Bella needed to burst out in tears.

In between hiccups, she explained what had happened. Starting from the Japanese academy and ending at today, Bella finally let out some of the problems that weighed her down the most. It was like a dam had broken, and nothing could stop the words from spilling. Jasper let her get it out; after all, how many times had she done the same for him? When his parents had gone through the divorce, when his older brother had started dating Jasper's crush, when Jasper didn't get into his first college of choice, when he had to bury his beloved uncle. The list went on, and only twice, before today, had he had to be there for her. The first time had been when Bella hadn't thought she'd manage to ever finish the weight loss. The second time had been because of his friendship with Maria. It sort of surprised him that she'd kept Emmett's relationship a secret from him; she'd always discussed anything with him, but this seemed to be the exception.

"You did nothing wrong, Izzy," Jasper assured her, speaking with a gentle tone that was strengthened with steel. He would not let her think otherwise. "Anybody who's capable of saying something like that is not worth it. Your brother probably has a hard time accepting that she actually said those things, given that he wasn't there."

"Are you saying he thinks I lied?" Bella hiccuped. He shook his head profusely.

"No, that's not it. I think on some level he's reluctant to believe it, but I'm sure he knows you're not a liar. You're his sister, Iz. There's no way he wouldn't have chosen you."

Bella sniffled.

"What if the day comes when he doesn't pick me? What if he chooses Rose, despite her saying horrible things to me? I mean, Em and I swore to each other we'd only ever put our children before each other. What if he puts Rose before me?" she ended up wailing out, finally voicing her deepest fear.

 _Boy, I'm never gonna be her number one_ , Jasper thought irately, although he couldn't exactly blame her.

"What if, what if? Are you going to let your relationship with Rosalie go down the drain because of what ifs? Come on, B. You've never lived based on the possible outcomes; you've always marched ahead with the things that actually happened." Jasper rose up to sit beside her, putting an arm around her.

She leaned into him; he was right.

"Rose is important to your brother, and you love your brother, so you have to give importance to Rose, alright? And that includes giving her a chance to prove her character."

She sighed; he was right, again.

"You're such a know-it-all, Jazz. You're sort of annoying," she teased, laughing when he tickled her side.

"Hey," she said softly, and felt her chest get warm when she noticed the laugh wrinkles that formed around his eyes. He hummed, still smiling. "I love you a lot, Jasper."

He blushed, and her heart became incredibly big.

"I love you, too, Izzy. So much," he leaned towards her, giving her a soft kiss. "Even if you're the cheesiest person I know," he teased back, making her giggle and lean her head on is shoulder.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Bella broke it.

"I'm scared, you know."

"Of what?"

"How our relationship will change once we have sex. I like our relationship as it is now; we talk of anything and everything, and sexual things take the backseat. I'm scared that after doing it, that's all our relationship will be about." She confessed. "I mean, what if you suck?"

He gave an outraged cry, and Bella burst out laughing boisterously.

"I'll have you know, I've mastered the first act of sex: masturbating without getting caught," she giggled at his words; she knew he was a virgin like her, which made it better for her, if she was being honest with herself. "But really. You're scared of our relationship changing?"

Bella nodded.

"I'm not," he shrugged, bobbing up her head. "I think that I want to show you I love you, inside and out. We've worked on the inside, but now you have to let me show you how beautiful you are outside, too."

She flushed; she didn't deal well with compliments.

"I also want to have sex, you know."

She pulled away, laughing, to slap his shoulder. This was how things were with Jasper; easy and fun.

"And you called _me_ cheesy, right?"

"You are," he laughed. "But I can admit you've made me like that, too."

She could deal with that.

"Now let's get going. You should go back to finish getting acquainted with Rosalie."

She shook her head, though.

"I can't, I was too rude. If I go back now, I'll end up fighting with Emmett, and that'll ruin the mood. Besides," Bella put her arms around Jasper. "My house is empty right now," she whispered, biting his earlobe.

He gulped.

 _If she says so..._

"Just this once," he swore, then let himself be guided by his girlfriend to her bike. Like always, he took the backseat, but he found he didn't mind having to hug the girl he loved for twenty minutes.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"He's such an ass," Edward nodded to himself Monday morning. "I can't believe he'd let Bella think that," he said to Rose as they walked to the hospital's cafeteria.

"He could lose her, you know," Rose lamented.

"Dr. Cullen, Dr. Hale," Dr. Patterson nodded to them in passing, and both of them smiled and said hi.

"Dick," they mumbled under their breath, hating the guy.

"Obviously. That was a real shitty move, I still can't believe he did that," Edward shook his head. "Tell me again what you see in him?"

"Nothing, just a good pair of abs," Rose deadpanned, making Edward chuckle.

"How do you think Bella's fairing?" Edward asked, grabbing a tray and handing his friend another one.

"I really don't know. She's not picking up Emmett's calls, and when he asked his parents, they basically told him to beat it. Apparently, Bella informed them of what went down, and they're _not_ happy either. Specially Mr. Swan, though I don't know why."

Rose hadn't had the heart to out her boyfriend, though she'd given him the cold shoulder the whole night.

Edward shrugged; it boggled him, too.

Neither knew it had been Mr. Swan who'd found the mess Bella had been after facing May's harsh words.

"Hopefully, she's ok." Edward wished genuinely, holding the cafeteria doors open for his friend. Rose thanked him, passing by him. "What has Emmett said of it all?"

"He's miserable, more so after the lashing out I gave him." Rose shrugged, reaching back to redo the falling ponytail. It was so annoying sometimes to have such thin hair, because ponytails only held up for so long. "I made him see how he would've been stuck with a girl who talked smack behind other's backs, and how unfair it was to Bella to have questioned whether May deserved being broken up with over that. He blew it, honestly."

Edward wholeheartedly agreed, grabbing a tray for the two of them.

"Bella's so sweet, but Swan hurts her so easily. He deserved the verbal lashing."

"And the physical one, too," Rose muttered to herself, changing the subject when Edward asked her to repeat herself. No way would she admit to violence again. "Oh yeah, and what's up with you and Bella?"

He shot her a bewildered look.

"The hell are you talking about, Hale? Bella's a taken woman."

 _And I'm still not completely over you. You know that, don't you? Or do you think just because I stopped making it obvious it's ok to ignore it?_

Rose rolled her eyes.

"That's what ex-boyfriends are for."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"You did well in breaking up with my brother," Bella told Vicky that afternoon. They were at a place that served only salads; because she ate only Johnny's with Angela once or twice a week, she had to balance things out. Vicky was like that, too, so she used her outings with Bella to eat healthy at least once a week.

"I know, right?" She slurped down her strawberry smoothie. "But what for?"

It was rare that Bella had any criticism for her brother.

"Ok, so you remember May, right?" Bella began, and Vicky curled her lip in animosity. Yeah, she remembered that bitch. Once, when she'd been on a date with Emmett, they'd run into her. Emmett had looked star struck, and May had looked venomous, seeing as the couple had been walking hand in hand. That was the first clue Vicky had had that the relationship wasn't going to work out. "Do you remember why they broke up?" Vicky nodded once; yeah, despite how little she and Bella had gotten along back then, when she'd found out, she'd felt bad for the girl and (more) hate towards the Japanese girl. "Well, it seems like my brother regrets breaking up with her because I opened my big mouth."

Vicky's jaw fell open.

"Shut _up_ ," the redhead sat back, taken aback. _That_ Emmett had said something like that? "Did he say that?"

Bella shrugged.

"Not outright, and he tried denying it, but I could see it in his face how he feels that way. I mean, I know he's not terribly regretful, because he has Rose and all, but I know he wonders what would have happened if I hadn't said anything."

Vicky looked down at her food, processing what the young girl had just told her. She pursed her lips, then released the pressure. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, it was the best thing you could've done," Vicky affirmed confidently, making Bella smile; she loved Victoria's confidence. "You and I wouldn't be sitting here if he hadn't, right? You wouldn't have gotten motivated to start losing weight, right? And Roseanne or whatever-her-name-is would be out there, looking for her Prince Charming somewhere far away. You told me that Emmett's happiest when he's with her, right? So tell him to stop being such a prick, get his head out of his ass and be happy about how things turned out."

Bella's smile was broad.

"You're the best, Vicky. And Edward wonders why I hang out with you."

"Edward?" She arched her sculpted brow.

"Oh, he's Rose's best friend and the stereotype for friend-zoned guy. I hope he lets her go sometime," Bella slurped at her own banana smoothie. "I actually thought you two would make a cute couple. I tried telling him, but he shot me down _super_ quick."

Vicky shook her head profusely.

"No way am I getting involved with a guy with an unsolved romance. Been there, done that. Never again. Besides," she continued shyly, giddily. "I think I found someone."

Bella's eyebrows shot up.

"Really? Tell me _everything_ , woman," she replied excitedly; Vicky hadn't dated since Emmett, too scared to get hurt again.

"His name is James Kingsley—"

"Hold up. He's King James?" Bella interrupted, bursting out laughing at the name. "How'd you find this dude?"

Vicky huffed in annoyance.

"He's a coworker. Anyways, I met James, and he's asked me out at least once every time we meet. It's been four months already, and he's still at it. I've taken the time to find out more about him from our coworkers, and they all say he doesn't have a girlfriend, that he's a huge dog lover _and_ that they always see him seeking me out. So, yesterday, I finally asked him _why_ he liked me, cause I didn't want it to be for superficial reasons, you know? Then he tells me he found some pieces I'd written over the years, and says he found what I wrote to be amazing. He says that when he went to my office the first time, he caught me watching puppy videos, and he immediately wanted to get to know me," Vicky blushed profusely, making Bella smile. "I might be willing to give it a shot."

Bella's smile widened.

"You deserve him so much, Vicky." She really did, after the shit her own brother had made her go through. What broke her heart the most was that, despite her having been the one to end things, she'd seriously liked Emmett, and for the longest time, at any mention of her brother Vicky would flinch. Unobservant girl that she was, Bella hadn't noticed how she'd stopped flinching with time, and had actually wanted the man to be happy with Rosalie.

"Thanks. Now, let's talk about _your_ man," Vicky was quick to change the subject, needing all the details about the girl's relationship and wanting to divert attention from herself.

Bella blushed like the maiden she was.

"He's great," she sighed dreamily. "Jasper is so kind and patient with me. He knows I have my self-image issues, and he does so much to encourage me. He's always telling me how beautiful I am, how nice, how everything."

Vicky beat down the green eyed monster inside herself.

"That sounds like the perfect guy," Vicky acknowledged, but Bella shook her head.

"He's not perfect, even if I make him sound like that. We have our arguments, of course, although 90% of them are about fucking Maria," Bella grumbled, and Vicky knew by now the gist of it, so she didn't ask what about Mary Jane. "But sometimes he _does_ get fed up with my insecurities, or with how dry I am on text. He wants me to be the annoying girlfriend that sends him a love message every two minutes, but that's not me. I don't want to, and that pisses him off. And I could wring his neck every time he starts texting his buddies when we're eating," she fumed, shaking her head. "He can really get on my nerves."

"It's a good thing you love the man," Vicky joked, and after that, they kept talking about this and that.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hello?"

"Bella? Hi, it's me, Edward."

Her lip twitched.

"Yeah, I could tell from the caller ID. My phone's not _that_ old." She was just about to get on her bike to go home after her last class of the day. "What's up?"

"Well." He began nervously. "You know how I want to keep Rose happy, right?"

She did not like where this was going.

"I do. Why?"

"Well, the thing is, Emmett isn't happy, and if Emmett's not happy, then Rose rides my ass. What I'm saying is, help a brother out, will you?" He begged, and Bella took a moment to revel in how miserable he sounded.

"What are you asking?"

"Come over for dinner. Emmett wants to make up with you, and Rose wants to get to know you more since, you know, you skipped out on her birthday bash. So, please?"

That was some nasty blackmailing.

"That's really not the way to get me to do you a solid." Bella muttered, stashing her things in the bike's bag. "What's in it for me?"

Silence.

"Edward?"

"Um, the satisfaction of knowing the great woman that is Rosalie Hale? Making up with your brother? ... Food?"

"Sold," she said immediately. "But only if the food is pasta Alfredo with chicken and salad. Otherwise, I'm going home right now, _brother._ "

"You drive a hard, very specific bargain." Edward commented, but didn't tell her how witty he found her. "Fine, I guess. Anything else?"

"Diet Coke. And get my brother on his best behavior. Also, you can't leave."

"You're very demanding, you know that?"

Bella shrugged.

"You either want me there or you don't. Those are my terms and conditions for doing something I don't want to do. So, we have a deal?"

"Deal," Edward sighed, mentally exhausted from the process. You really shouldn't mess with this girl.

"Cool. See you in forty, and by you I mean my dinner." Bella hung up.

She should've known Edward would end up being used to remedy the situation. After all she wasn't taking any unknown numbers (in case it was Emmett) or Rose's (in case it was Emmett).

Thirty minutes later, Bella was pulling up to her house; she wanted to drop off her school stuff and go to the bathroom, something she couldn't (and didn't want to) do at Emmett's. While doing the bathroom thing, she sent a text to Edward in order to let him know she'd be there in twenty and that she wanted her meal ready. He answered with an ok, and somehow, Bella didn't expect any more from him, which was fine by her. He didn't seem like the type to send extensive texts, and her phone couldn't afford it, either.

When she walked up to her brother's apartment twenty minutes later, the door flew open before she could even knock on the door (which was unnecessary, given that she had a key). Emmett was all but falling out of there and racing to her, giving her the fiercest hug ever.

"I'm so sorry, Izzy. I love you the most, you now that, right? More than I could ever love any girlfriend —although you really shouldn't say that to Rose." He said quickly, probably fearing she'd pull back and kick him before he had a chance to apologize. "I shouldn't have made you doubt my allegiance. I shouldn't have been even the slightest bit remorseful, and more than that, I should have been completely honest with you about how I felt. It wasn't fair to tell you one thing but keep back the other. Please forgive me."

Bella sighed.

"I can never stay angry with you, Em. But you're right —you should have told me honestly what you felt, because believe it or not, I'm observant enough to see that much." She hugged him back. "Now let's go eat. I'm starving."

Shouldering past her brother, she found both Edward and Rose still in their scrubs. Laughing to herself, she realized the two must've taken her demands really seriously, and she found, for a moment, the duo to be adorable.

"Bella in da house, people! Now feed me!" She hollered, coming in, making Emmett give her a headlock until she properly greeted them. "Ouch! Fine, fine! Hi Rose, hi Edward!"

He let go, and a huffing Bella put down her hair.

"Geez, I was just joking," muttered Bella, heading over to the dinner table where everything was set up. It was round, so Em sat down, then Rose, then Edward, and then Bella, in between the two men.

"How was your day, Bella?" Rose was quick to ask, serving everyone salad.

 _Ugh, salad_ , thought the three, including the one who'd demanded it.

"It was good, thank you. I had classes, then lunch with a friend, then classes again," Bella smiled, serving herself some water while the adults served themselves wine. "How was yours?"

"Oh, you know. Lots of people coming in, not nearly enough people to help them. Mayhem. But it's what I've always wanted to do, so I can't really complain," Rose smiled back, thankful that the girl hadn't given a vague answer, as most people did.

"Who'd you have lunch with? Angela?" Emmett asked, shoving down some salad. Edward panicked, remembering that Bella had said she had lunch with Emmett's ex-girlfriend every Monday.

"No, with Vicky. Hadn't I told you I have lunch with her every Monday?" Bella questioned, shoving down some salad as well, wanting to get to the good stuff already.

Emmett almost choked.

"Don't die, brother," Bella said in monotone, knowing there were two doctors to save him should anything happen. She really would be useless if the need for help arose.

"Who's Vicky?" Rose asked, confused. Edward wanted the Earth to swallow him.

"Victoria," Emmett got out between whizzes, going for the wine to help him put down the food.

"Victoria, your _ex-girlfriend_?" Rose all but screeched, turning stunned eyes to Bella. "Emmett told me you'd hated her!"

Bella shrugged; she was the most chill out of all of them, Edward noted irately.

"I did, when they were dating. I ran into her a while ago, though, and we became friends. She's a really nice girl, you know?" Bella commented, noticing the look of horror on Rose's face. Laughing, she realized both Rose and Edward were an open book. "Chill, woman. I'm not trying to get her back together with my brother, not that she ever would, even if I wanted it. She's got too much pride, after how things ended."

Emmett looked like _he_ wanted the Earth to swallow him whole.

"How'd things end with her?" Edward asked, having never been told by Rose that part.

"She was the rebound," Emmett flinched in shame. "And then I met An."

Edward, Rose and Bella shook their heads in disapproval.

"You never told me you were seeing her regularly now," Emmett accused his sister, finally done with swallowing down the lethal salad. "You should've said something before."

Bella was still cool as a cucumber, and Edward had to give her props for that.

"You never asked, brother dear. And I didn't see why I should bring it up, given that it would only be an unwelcome reminder of what a dick you can be," Bella swallowed down the rest of her salad, and it was then that Edward understood this girl could hold a grudge for a long time.

"You're never gonna let it go, are you?" Em sighed, and Bella smirked.

"I will. Just not today, when I have the opportunity of making everyone uncomfortable."

It was Rose who laughed.

"You just love making trouble, don't you?" She smiled, pouring herself some more wine. She needed it if she wanted to survive interacting with the tornado that was Isabella Swan.

"Guilty as charged," Bella nodded.

"Tone it down or you'll find your chicken laced with laxatives next time," Rose said calmly, and for a moment she thought she said the worst thing possible when Bella started getting red in the face. Then she burst out laughing boisterously in the most Emmett-like laugh ever, and everyone started laughing.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Bella grinned at the couple.

"I like her, Em. You should've brought her around sooner." Bella kept chuckling. "She's got some serious balls."

 _Yeah,_ Edward thought. _She's got double, after all, since she took mine, too._

Dinner continued amicably after that. Bella stopped trying so hard to make everyone uncomfortable, and she even found herself joking a lot with Edward. He was really easygoing about almost everything, and that made him for some really good company.

Edward and Bella left at the same time.

She did a double take.

"You know, I forgot you didn't live with them. You're always here, third-wheeling." Bella grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"That'd be incredibly awkward, don't you think?" He slid his eyes to her. "Then again, I can see you thrive in that kind of thing."

Bella shrugged.

"What can I say? It's a way of entertainment." They arrived at the parking lot. "I guess we part here, then?"

He grinned sheepishly.

"Actually, can you give me a ride? Rose brought me," he said, and Bella huffed in annoyance. She wanted to be home and in bed already.

"Where do you live?" Edward gave her the address, and she nodded. "It's on my way home."

When they arrived to her bike, she noticed that he'd been left behind. Turning, she realized he was slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

" _That's_ your ride?"

She puffed her chest proudly.

"My baby. Neat, isn't she?" Her family hadn't really been crazed about the idea of a bike, and Jasper had been _seriously_ against it, along with Em. She, as always, had done whatever she wanted. "Mommy loves you," she blew a kiss to it.

"My respect for you just went up a few notches." He all but salivated. "This is _so_ cool."

She got on, extending a helmet to him.

"Hop on, fanboy." He grabbed it, put it on, and got on the back (after begging briefly to let him drive it).

He hugged her from behind.

"You know, this is weird. You're too tiny for me to feel safe hugging you," Edward complained, but he didn't tell her how nice he thought it felt.

She revved the engine.

"Well, you're just big enough to break my fall should anything happen," she joked, and then took off.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"You've really got to tone it down with the love for making others uncomfortable, babe. Your brother's gonna lose it one day with you," Jasper told her three days later, when both had made time for each other and were giving each other a rundown of their week.

Bella grinned mischievously, rolling across the bed to see what he was up to. They were currently in Jasper's bedroom, his mom (now Ms. Russo, after the divorce) out running some errands. Ms. Russo wasn't Bella's biggest fan, which made it so much better whenever she wasn't around.

Jasper was finishing a school project.

"Well, what's the fun in that? It was a win win. Rose found out about me meeting Vicky without it having to be dragged out, and I got to poke fun at my brother once again." She swung around so she was prepped up against the bed's frame, next to Jasper, who sat with his computer on his lap.

"So, what happened after that?" Jasper asked, his brow furrowing at something he wrote before deleting almost an entire paragraph.

"Nothing. We had a nice dinner. When the night was over, I gave Edward a ride back to his apartment. He lives in that really fancy building you and I like, you know the one? With the gate? Well, I dropped him off and then went home. He really liked my bike, unlike _some_ people," Bella teased, not noticing how Jasper tensed briefly at the mention of her giving him a ride, since he relaxed quickly.

"It's a death trap and nothing you say will make me change my mind," Jasper grumbled, knowing that it wouldn't be productive to start fighting with Bella now about letting another man ride with her. Besides, she'd told him he was in love with Rosalie.

"But it's a _beautiful_ death trap," Bella joked, getting even closer to him. "Jazz?"

"Hmm?" He hummed, deleting again a sentence.

She kissed his cheek.

"I love you," she chirped happily, warming his heart so much he had to close the blasted computer so he could properly smother her in kisses.

"You're too cute, you know that?" He kissed her cheeks, making her giggle. "You better not be showing this side of you to other guys, you hear me?"

She batted her eyelashes at him.

"There's no one I'd show but you," she said sweetly, which earned her a make out session that lasted all five minutes, given that Ms. Russo came back. With a guest.

"Jasper!" Ms. Russo hollered, making the couple groan. "Guess who I ran into?" She called.

"If it's Maria I'll punch your mother, Jasper. Mark my words." Bella said against his lips, dead serious.

The door opened, and there stood freaking Maria Keaton.

"Jasper!" Mary Jane squealed, and the two rolled apart. "Oh, hi, Isabella!"

 _I'll fucking cut you._

Casting her dead eyes towards the younger girl, Bella turned her glare then to her boyfriend.

He at least had the decency to look apologetic.

"Hi, Maria. Can you give me a sec? Wait outside," he requested, and because she was so in love, she did it without question, only casting a dark look at Bella.

Turning to look at Jasper, she saw he was accommodating his pants.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Problem?"

He rolled his eyes.

" _Big_ one," he retorted, making her lip twitch despite her anger. "Come on now, B, be nice."

Her twitching stopped.

"She called me Isabella. I have told her _repeatedly_ not to call me that. How am _I_ not playing nice?"

He sighed.

"I'm sorry, ok? But she _is_ my best friend, and I haven't seen her in two weeks."

Those were some really good news, and Bella couldn't hide how pleased she was.

"You know," Bella began, on a whim, calculating her next move. She inched closer to him. "If you dispatch the little troll, I can help you take care of your problem," she licked her lips, looking down at him.

Jasper gulped.

 _If I accept, I'll probably condone this attitude, but I'll get a handjob if I'm seriously lucky. If I deny her, she'll probably ignore me for a few days and I'll destroy any chances of her offering again for a few months._

"I..."

"Jasper! Get down here right now!" Mrs. Russo hollered, and Jasper almost sagged in relief from not having to make the choice.

 _Thank you, momma._

"Coming!" Jasper hollered back, and Bella got that really evil look in her face that appeared every time she didn't get things to go her way.

"You were going to, but not anymore," she muttered, pulling apart. She cast him a side glance. "Saved by the bell, huh?"

Yeah, he knew all that.

"Oh, B, come on. You know—" he stopped because of the venomous glance she threw him.

"I'm going home. Enjoy your time alone with _Maria_." She made a face when saying the girl's name, and despite how tired he was of Bella's animosity towards Mary Jane, he still found the faces she made amusing.

"Fine," he snapped back. "I will."

She sucked in a breath, and he knew the killer was coming in.

"You could've enjoyed a blowjob, but then again, I suppose you still prefer her presence." She fumed, and Jasper could feel how much his dick resented him. _I'm trying to have principles!_ He told himself.

"Izzy, don't—"

"Jasper!"

Fuck.

Bella grabbed her helmet from the floor, threw him a glare, and stomped down the stairs. When she got to the living room, where the two women were chatting amicably, she cast them an icy smile.

"Sorry about that, Mrs. Whitlock. Jasper'll be down any second now." She gave them her best smile, feeling the anger that radiated from each woman. Ms. Russo hated being called by her old name, given that the split from her husband wasn't amicable. Maria because she knew what she and Jasper had been up to.

Bella bolted out of there before either woman could think a rude thing to say.

Jasper stomped down the stairs.

"Honestly, Jasper, what—" his mother started, but as he heard the engine of Bella's bike reeve, he snapped.

"I'm sorry Maria, but could you come back another day? I want to talk to my mother."

Knowing she really didn't want to face an angry Jasper, she agreed, though she cast a quick curse to the loathed girlfriend.

"Ok. I'll come by later." She ran out.

Jasper turned his icy glare towards his mother.

"Don't you look at me like that, young man. I'm your mother and—"

"And why must I be miserable if _you_ are?" Jasper snapped back, finally releasing his feelings. "You know very well that I love Bella, and you _know_ how badly she gets along with Maria! I'm trying to get them to get along, but do you realize what you bringing Maria over, unexpected, does to my progress? I don't have even an inch of romantic feelings for Maria, why can't you see that? And yet you get her to barge into my room, where you know Bella is, and make things worse. _Why_?"

Jane Russo swallowed down her hurt.

"Bella isn't right for you. Maria is."

Jasper wanted to scream.

"But _how_ do you know that? Do you even realize that ever since the divorce you've been trying to break me and Bella up? Maria is just a convenience for you, and it's wrong of you to use her like that. Why can't you just let me be happy? Don't you see how happy Isabella makes me?" Jasper implored of her, and she cast her eyes down, admonished.

"I do want you happy, baby boy," her voice broke, betraying the tears building up in her throat.

"Well, prove it. Stop pulling crap like this, and _apologize_ to Bella. I love her, and you're deliberately hurting the woman I love." Jasper shook his head, sighing, trying to dispel his anger.

"I'm sorry, Jasper," she said softly. "I am."

He gave her a hug.

"I know, mom. I know."

-.-.-.-.-

It took Bella a week and a half to answer Jasper's call, and when she did, she sounded as if nothing had happened.

"Hello?"

"Bella?" The nervous voice answered her.

"Jasper! Hey, what's up?" She chirped back; it was the second Saturday after the fight, and Bella was hanging out at Emmett's.

"I want to see you."

"Sure! I'm at Emmett's today. You can come if you want; we're starting a Mario Kart tournament in ten."

"Uh, ok. See you then." Jasper hung up, and Bella reveled in how anxious he sounded.

The three people in front of her gave her a weird look.

"What? I'm forgiving like that," but the evil grin betrayed her.

After the fight, Bella had gone to vent to Angela. When Angela told her she was too busy, she tried calling Vicky, but the girl told her she was out of town. Being the only two friends she really trusted for this kind of talk, she tried going over to Emmett's, but he was still at work. It had left her with one choice:

She went to the hospital, found Edward (Rose was in surgery) and ranted about her boyfriend as he tried to swallow down the hospital's cafeteria food. Every time she'd started ranting about Jasper, Edward would get this really confused face (since she never bothered explaining what had happened), and would switch the topic. They'd talk about the latest anime that Bella was forcing him to watch (instead of the KUWTK reruns), or they'd talk about Edward's most recent patient and how the surgery or recovery had gone. Because of these interactions Bella found out just how passionate Edward was about his job; he'd considered going with Rosalie to work with Doctors Without Borders, but he'd been too fond of his patients (and, also, he was still specializing in pediatrics) to leave for so long. He explained Rose was more into giving help to those who couldn't get it, and he was more into helping out people he could bond with for extended periods of time without feeling like he'd one day leave and never go back. Bella found both of them to be admirable.

After that, Bella had gone the whole week to either the hospital or Emmett's, wanting to avoid being found alone by her boyfriend. She'd been too angry to face him, ranting inside her head about how fucking inconsiderate he'd been. The previous day she'd finally told Edward all about what had happened in detail, even getting some amusement out of it when he choked at the mention of a blowjob.

"Did you mean it?" He'd asked after he'd survived the near death experience. Peas could be deadly.

Bella had shrugged.

"Maybe? I mean, most of me did, but I guess a part of me didn't want to bribe him with sex. It felt low of me to do that." Bella had confessed; for some reason, speaking to Edward was as easy as speaking to Jasper. She didn't really tell anybody else but Angela how far she and Jasper had gone, and it felt slightly weird to tell this to her brother's girlfriend's best friend, but she felt like he'd get her. Why, she had no idea; it was a gut feeling. But he did, and that's what counted.

"Well, you're lucky his mother interrupted you from doing that. I don't think it would've been good for you that your first sexual experience had to do with bribing and anger." Edward had said, chugging down some water.

"Lucky's a relative term, when it comes to me encountering Ms. Russo and Bitchy Maria." Bella had grumbled, and Edward had to chuckle at the nickname.

"So, let me get this straight. You and Whitlock have always fought about his relationship with Maria, and only once has he ever said, to her face, to leave you alone. Correct?" Bella had nodded. "You've asked him repeatedly to not mix you and her in the same place, and you've told him how bitchy she is when he isn't looking, right?"

Bella had shuddered.

"She's so nasty."

Edward had set down his fork.

"You do know _you_ aren't off the hook, either, right?" He'd given her an accusing look, which Bella answered with an indignant look. "You've been ignoring him for almost two weeks. How do you expect to make up with him if you don't even let the guy talk? Also, you say one thing, but what you really want is for Whitlock to choose you, isn't it? You want him to tell Maria to beat it to the curve so you never have to see her again, but you get angry every time he doesn't."

Bella had slid down her chair, sulking.

"But, _mom_." Bella had whined, but Edward had been on a roll. He had a strangely good time with the girl's visits, but he could tell that the whole time something (Whitlock) had been bothering her. Just like with Rose, he had an impulse to make sure she was ok. But while he'd been ok with other people giving _her_ the comfort, he felt like _he_ had to be the one to help Bella.

"No, Bell. You've got to hear him out, and you've got to make up your mind. You either give him an ultimatum or you don't regarding Maria. If you do, there's a good chance you'd lose him, because nobody likes ultimatums. If you don't, you've got to work something out with Whitlock about how to deal with his best friend."

She'd scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Did you just call me Bell?"

He'd flickered his eyes away.

"You call me Edwina. It's only fair."

She'd laughed, and Edward had found, for the nth time, the sound to be infectious.

"Fine, fine. I'll take your wise advice, Obi Wan." She'd said, her face softening. "Thanks, though. Sometimes, I need someone to pull my head out of my ass."

That had been yesterday, and today she'd arrived at Emmett's strangely cheerful with Mario Kart in hand. When she'd heard Jasper's ringtone, her smile had been slightly evil, and she'd scared pretty much everyone.

Thirty minutes later, about fifteen minutes into one of the cups, the doorbell rang. Bella skipped ahead, and everyone pretended not to notice.

She opened the door with a cheerful smile, which widened when she saw that Jasper held Nutella with a nice bow.

"Forgive me?" He asked softly, and just like that all plans of retribution flew out the window. She relaxed and closed the door behind her, wanting a moment for themselves.

First she took the Nutella and cradled it against her chest, as Jasper had suspected she would.

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have attempted to blackmail you, and I shouldn't have walked out like that. I behaved like a brat, and though I can't say I won't do it again, I promise to try my hardest to avoid it."

"And?"

"And... I won't ignore you like that again. In my defense, it was also sort of perfect timing because I had to study for some tests and you distract me a lot," Bella justified herself, quick as always.

Jasper smiled, finally hugging his girlfriend.

"Although I'll admit there were worse ways to blackmail me and that my mom sort of was childish, it really hurt that you'd ignore my calls like that, you know?" Bella nodded, feeling guilty. Jasper rested his chin against her head. "I told my mom to stop sabotaging our relationship, you know. I think it shocked her that I knew how her disliking you was directly related to the divorce."

Bella's eyebrows drew up; Jasper had said to her in passing some of his theories about why his mom was acting so weird with her, and that was one.

"What'd she say?"

"She agreed to apologize to you and to stop antagonizing us. And... I also spoke with Maria," he admitted, and Bella's heart gave a kick. "I told her she can't just barge into my room unannounced anymore. I told her that she knows I have a girlfriend, and that unless she wants to see something uncomfortable for her, she should knock it off."

She gave a hard swallow; she knew this was the best support Jasper could give her.

"Thank you, Jazz. It means a lot to me that you'd face them for me," she admitted, hugging him tighter. "You make me crazy, you know that?"

He kissed the top of her head.

"Hopefully at least as half as crazy as you make me," he teased, resting his chin. He was about to say something when the sacrificial lamb poked his head out.

"Guys, sorry to interrupt the mushiness, but the next cup is starting, and we sorta need to know if you're gonna play." Edward said, and Bella and Jasper broke apart.

He felt a bit ridiculous, watching the couple in front of him. They were young, in love, and volatile as kids should be. He admired Bella for being so open about her feelings, too. Most people always held something back, afraid of the world's reaction, but this girl taunted everyone else to fit her agenda. He liked her and hated her a bit for that.

Mostly, he saw a couple of teenagers who hadn't really seen the world yet, but that probably felt like they'd lived through it all. He knew that, because at nineteen, Edward had also felt like he'd seen it all. It had taken less than four years for him to realize life didn't always work out the way you wanted it to and that, no matter how hard you tried, some things you had to live through in order to learn from them.

Part of him hoped the couple would get through life together.

Part of him wished they'd crash and burn, just like he had.

Then again, these kids looked like they had the potential to be something great. Be it together or apart was something they'd yet to find out.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't actually watch KUWTK. I know a bit about the Kardashians through Twitter and the like, but that's as far as my knowledge goes. I'm more into other shows. Currently, k-dramas and _Brooklyn Nine Nine_ make the list. **

**On another note, I've gotten asked what my update schedule is like, and like the dunce I am I was like, 'depends on the feeling'. I'll actually try to give you at least _one_ weekly update. I've had to hold myself back the whole week from updating (the impulse was strong with this one) when I saw the amount of positive feedback, but I sorta had to because otherwise I'll be left without stuff to post, and I'll be _really_ irregular then with my updating schedule. I also don't want to feel too pressured to post because I feel like I might put out crap if I hurry to keep deadlines, and y'all only deserve the best from me. Lucky thing is I'm fresh out of classes (I actually posted the first chapter on the very day I got out lol), so while I'm on vacation I'll try to get ahead with the story. Life's hectic when classes start again (college is so hard on creativity), so I'll do my best. Long rant over. **

**Leah.**

 **P.S. KEEP SHOWING THIS POOR SOUL LOVE! FOLLOW, FAVORITE & REVIEW! Pretty plz. :D) (- that's my double chin smiley face)**

 **P.P.S. I actually meant to post this on Wednesday, but I'm weak and got super thrilled with all the love you're showing.**


	4. This is Halloween

**I know, I know. It hasn't been a week yet. What can I say? I've got a weak heart and a weekend that might not let me post. So just to be sure, I'm posting this. Leave me some love for my efficiency. .**

 **DISCLAIMER: DUN DUN DUN DUNNNN.**

* * *

Three weeks later, it was Bella's favorite time of the year: Halloween.

In a way, nothing and some things had changed since her fight with Jasper. On one hand, he'd proven himself to be capable of standing up for her. On the other hand, Bella hadn't gone to his house since the incident, not really wanting his mother's apology or to accidentally bump into Bitchy Maria. Because of this, her and Jasper hadn't really had time to be alone —exams had come in the way on his end, and projects on hers. When they did meet, it was at a park, or at Emmett's (and crew), or even at her house, where Jasper wasn't allowed to the upper floor.

"Honey, can you help me take that outside?" Mrs. Swan asked, and her daughter complied, moving a plastic pumpkin to the lawn. The Swans were all avid Halloween fans, so every year they threw a bash that left everyone hungover and diabetic for a few days. This time, she'd invited Jasper, Angela, her new friend Alice and, much to Emmett's anger, Vicky. The only reason he'd accepted was because he wasn't totally out of the doghouse, and Vicky was actually taking a date.

This year, to her chagrin, Jasper had picked the costumes. She was dressed as a maid, and he as a butler. They'd yet to see each other in their outfits, but she knew that he'd go nuts when he saw how tight the dress was. She normally wore really baggy things, still not over some body complexes.

"Do you need some help?" Rose asked, getting down from her car, noticing the young girl moving things to the front. There were still a few hours until the party, so the Swan family was still making a few adjustments.

"Sure. I could use some help moving the real pumpkins out," Bella suggested, thankful for the reprieve. It was always like this on Halloween; lots of preparing went into the festivities, and for the most part, it was her who had to put in the effort.

"Hey sis," Em grumbled, still sore about the whole 'inviting Vicky' business. Rose didn't really seem to mind; after all, Bella had run it by her first, caring more about Rose's comfort than Emmett's. Touched, Rose had told her she didn't mind, and she really didn't. She hadn't met the ex-girlfriend, but obviously, if Emmett broke up with her for Rose, she didn't think she had anything to fear.

"Brother!" Bella grinned, still happy she could mess with her brother like only a little sister could. "Where's the third-wheel?"

"What, that's my hello?" He scowled further, hugging her tightly. "He's coming in a few hours. Apparently, he didn't want to get ready here." He scoffed, muttering under his breath. "Good riddance."

Bella slapped his back, making him yelp.

"Come on, Em, you know Edward's a nice guy. You're gonna have to live with the fact that he and Rose are a package deal," she lectured. "Just like I had to learn Jasper and Bitchy Maria are a package deal, too." She scowled.

The friendship would forever bother the siblings and, for a moment, they felt the bond between them strengthen. Then Mrs. Swan barked at them to get to work, and the moment was broken.

Five hours later, the party was in full swing, and Jasper and Edward entered at the same moment.

On Bella's end, she didn't know whether to fan herself or face palm. Her boyfriend looked amazing in the butler's outfit, but he was nowhere near as hot as Edward —or Edgar Collins, as he would call himself that night. The two men had totally different appeals; Jasper's was sweeter, and Edward's was manlier. She could only think that Jasper would've had a much bigger impact if he hadn't walked in with what would most likely be the sexiest man of the night. _Em, you've got hardcore competition. Also, Edward, my man, your new nickname is_ definitely _Edgar._

The men had the same reaction upon seeing Bella: shift their pants uncomfortably. She was wearing a tight as hell maid's outfit with pigtails and smoky eye makeup; that, coupled with high heels, made her look so amazing neither guy could believe this was the Bella that sometimes chose not to shower for three days straight. Jasper would later find out that Vicky had done her hair and makeup, and that Angela had chosen her undergarments.

Excited to see her boyfriend and friend, Bella made her way to them as fast as she could in heels. Honestly, she hated the things, but from Jasper's reaction, it was worth it.

"Jasper! Edward! You finally made it," Bella smiled, making both men's heart skip a beat. For Jasper, it was normal —after all, she was his girlfriend and he loved her. But for Edward, who had only ever loved Rosalie, it was a totally new feeling that would have pleased him... if said girl didn't _also_ already have a boyfriend. And if she wasn't like eleven years younger. And if she wasn't his current love's future sister-in-law.

Well, fucked up it was.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," Jasper smiled, snaking an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek, not wanting to ruin her lipstick. "Really," he whispered in her ear, making her grin wider.

Coughing, Edward gave Bella an apologetic smile.

"I was meant to be here like three hours ago, but the outfit took longer than expected. Then there was traffic, and because I had this outfit on I had to ask for an Uber instead of taking my bike. You don't know how _excited_ the guy was when he pulled in; I had to remind him to _drive_." They all laughed, because the resemblance to the character really _was_ uncanny.

"Hey, how's this?" A new voice piped up, and it was Rose with Em trailing behind her. They were dressed like hippies; Emmett had the fake Afro, creeper mustache and sunglasses. Apart of that, both were wearing the pants, platforms, and psychedelic patterns characteristic of the sixties. Rose had pretty makeup on and a long wig to go with it; they looked like they'd come out of a picture.

Edward smiled.

"You look great," he said, and she really did. She was a different beauty from Bella; taller, older, with far more boobs and modelesque looks. Bella was beautiful in a more quiet way, but just as noticeable and real. Right now, he had to admit his heart still beat harder for his old friend, but the fact that it'd thumped for someone else at all was a startling fact.

And yeah, he liked Bella's outfit a lot better.

"Thanks!" Rose piped up, happy with the vibes of the night. She was about to say something when Edward shot her a weird look, looking towards her boyfriend. She turned to see her seething man, then rolled her eyes. "Oh, ignore him. He's just pissed his little sister's all grown up now. If it were up to him, she'd be wearing a bed sheet over her head," they all laughed save for Emmett.

"She's showing too much skin!" He complained, and Bella rolled her eyes.

"No, _mom_ is showing too much skin, but you aren't defending her honor, right? My boobs are still well hidden," she argued back, grabbing Jasper's hand. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have things to see and people to do." Then she left, boyfriend in tow.

"I can't believe my little sister just talked about her boobs in front of me," Emmett blinked, trying to figure out if he'd heard right. Rose and Edward looked at each other; they got vomited on for a living. They really didn't care a nineteen year old girl had referenced her (covered) mammary glands. Besides, it was hilarious for them that the man hadn't yet realized she'd _also_ talked about said boobs in front of her boyfriend.

"Honey, it could be worse. She could've talked about her vagina," Rose said, and then she and Edward burst out laughing at the look of horror that crossed Emmett's face.

"Cruel people," Emmett sulked, and then he went stiff.

"Emmett? What's wrong?" Rose asked, concerned, and Edward turned around to look at the direction Swan had looked in.

It was a tall blonde (which was actually a wig), like Rose, but she was dressed like Sandra Dee and she had walked in with what could only be Danny Zuko. She was really hot, Edward thought, but thought it strange Swan would stare so openly at another woman in front of his girlfriend.

Then his doubts were answered.

"Vicky!" A blur of color went past him, trailed by a calm Jasper, that clashed against Sandra Dee. Understanding dawned on him, and he saw the moment Rose understood too because she frowned deeply.

"Hey, B, how's it cracking?" Vicky smiled, and on reflex, Bella did too.

"Good! How're you, girl? And who's the Danny to your Sandy?" She teased, giving the guy a once over. Maybe not hotter than her brother, but certainly hot. Vicky had told her James was usually very quiet and was the dorky type, which made him all that better in her book.

"Hi, I'm James," King James smiled, extending a hand. Bella skipped it and just hugged him, strangely thankful to him for helping Vicky find someone she liked again.

"I'm Bella," she smiled back, pulling apart. "Thanks so much for agreeing to be Vicky's date. She vetoed every guy I had suggested, and a girl like this just has to bring a date to a party, right?" She babbled, lying just a bit, getting slapped on the shoulder by Vicky and a sigh from Jasper, who was used to her hobby of making people uncomfortable.

"It's my pleasure," James smiled at Vicky sweetly, making both girls melt.

"Aw, the two of you—" Bella began, but was interrupted by the unfortunate presence of her brother and Co.

"Victoria?" Emmett asked quietly, and Sandra Dee stiffened.

"Emmett," she acknowledged, giving one sharp nod, not wanting to look at Rose. "Bella invited me. I hope that's ok."

Bella rolled her eyes, wanting to say something, but Edward pinched her lips together, shaking his head. Fine.

"It's fine," Emmett said, letting go of Rose. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Blinking in surprise, Vicky nodded.

"Sure," she said, then looked apologetically at James. "I'll be right back."

The couple left to go talk on the front lawn.

They were quiet for a few minutes until Emmett spoke.

"I'm sorry," Emmett began, and Vicky turned around slowly to face him. "I really am. I didn't handle anything well, and I made you suffer because of that."

Vicky stared at him pensively.

"Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"Dating me at all."

"No," he said earnestly. "You were a great girlfriend and you helped me see there were girls other than May. You're a friend my sister really loves now, and if I hadn't met you, I don't know if I would've been ready to date Rosalie. I regret hurting you. I'm sorry. But I don't regret dating you, selfish as that may be."

She nodded.

"Good, you're aware." She muttered. "You're an ass, you know that? I haven't dated anyone since you until now. Yet you lived so happily."

Emmett's heart clenched; Bella never told him anything about Vicky, no matter how many times he asked. He always wanted to know, but it was only based on guilt. They'd broken things off in a way that had weighed on him for nearly three years.

* * *

 _Three years ago_

 _"_ _Emmett? Is that you?" Vicky clasped her hands over the ones covering her eyes, half-smiling._

 _"_ _Yup, it's me," Emmett replied, dropping his hands when his girlfriend turned. She was gorgeous, of course, but these days, he tended to overlap the black eyes with blue ones and red hair with blonde. He shook himself off; no, he was happy with Vicky, even though Rie didn't like her. He knew, but he wanted to give this relationship a shot._

 _"_ _You're just the man I was looking for," Vicky said, clasping his hand around hers. "Let's go." He'd caught her at a food stand outside of her workplace, and she figured it was perfect timing. There was a park a block away, and she liked that it was quiet enough to do what she wanted._

 _When they reached it, Vicky sat him down on a bench, standing in front of him._

 _"_ _Vicky? What's going—"_

 _Victoria slapped him with all of her might._

 _Cheek stinging, mouth gaping, he turned to yell his worst words at her, but stopped when he saw she was crying. It didn't make sense; she'd hurt him, but it was her who cried._

 _"_ _Vicky?"_

 _"_ _We're done," she whispered, heartbroken. "And believe me when I say it's not me, it's you."_

 _Holding a hand against the stricken cheek, he frowned, trying to clasp her hand but getting batted away._

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"_ _Because I'm breaking up with you, and I can see it in your face that you know why. I can see that you're not going to ask to make things right, and that fucking breaks me." She sobbed, taking a step back. "I gave us a try, at first. I knew you were still hung up over someone, but I thought I was great enough to make you look at me. And now? You go to the hospital one day, and suddenly you're all better. You broke a bone, but your soul got healed somehow. And I know it's someone, because you keep looking at your phone as if you're waiting for them to call. And I'm not stupid, Emmett Swan. I won't be the idiotic girl that keeps waiting for her boyfriend to finally love her."_

 _He felt like garbage, but she wasn't done._

 _"_ _I went after you for a_ year _, and you only gave me the time of day until you and May were done. Now I'm breaking up with you because you didn't have the same consideration for me. I really liked you, but I can't pretend what you're doing isn't killing me inside."_

 _He didn't deny anything._

 _"_ _I'm sorry."_

 _She laughed coldly._

 _"_ _I know you aren't. But that's fine, that's why I slapped you. Because if you can feel even a tenth of my pain, I'll be able to sleep tonight." She took another step back. "Don't come looking for me when your conscience makes itself known."_

 _Then she left, and she never looked back._

* * *

"You should've left things as they were," Vicky continued, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now your girlfriend will be unhappy."

He shook his head.

"You said not to come looking for you," he said. "But you're the one that came. You could've told Rie no, but you didn't. You're crazy if you thought I wouldn't attempt to talk to you."

"I came because I like Bella, not for you. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have spoken to you ever again. I didn't come to make you uncomfortable, or to make you feel guilty, or to 'show you' I'm fine. I didn't come for an apology, either. I never actually expected you to be genuinely sorry, only guilty."

He felt his stomach turn to stone.

"What?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Emmett. I know you aren't actually sorry, you're only feeling guilty about how things ended. And I already made peace with it; back then, I told you what I needed to tell you. I vented enough. But I can't make someone like you understand; all your girlfriends have ever had on their minds was you. You've never pursued anyone and you've never had a one-sided love. You don't know what it's like to feel for three years like all you ever were was second best no matter what you did."

He tried finding words, but couldn't.

"Cat got your tongue?"

He finally managed to get a grasp of his vocabulary.

"I thought you were fine."

"I am. But I wasn't for a long time, and that's on you. All I want is for you to tell me you're sorry one day, and for you to actually mean it."

His shoulders sagged.

"I—"

She shook her head in denial.

"I won't hear it now. You won't mean it the way I want. Some day, you'll understand. Come find me then. Until then, I'd rather we just said hello and goodbye any time we met."

He sighed.

"You really want that?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll do as you wish," he said, tired. Vicky was a force to be reckoned with, just like his sister.

She gave a firm nod.

"Good. Thank you," then her shoulders sagged, as if in defeat. "I don't hate you, Emmett. Not anymore. I think, somewhere along the way, I realized you were wrong for asking me out, but I was also wrong for still liking you even when you had a girlfriend. Besides," she continued. "If I hadn't been so hurt afterwards, I probably wouldn't have been so dead set on advancing my career. Now I have. I won't thank you, but I'll acknowledge the good things that came out of having met you. Including Bella."

Emmett gave her a small smile.

"Rie's pretty great, isn't she?"

Vicky smiled fondly.

"Yeah, she is. Especially when you aren't dating her brother. I remember how much she hated me during the brief period we dated. I was really surprised when we bumped into each other and actually got along. She's sharp, funny and nice. Jasper's lucky to have her," Vicky noted.

"He better treat her like a fucking goddess," Emmett muttered under his breath.

"He treats her like a human worth of love, and she has the same kindness towards him. They have a relationship everyone should aim for," she told him, then gave one deep, final sigh. "Let's go back inside. I can't imagine our dates are happy about this."

Emmett agreed.

"I think I saw Rose plan the perfect murder." He admitted, and he was only half kidding.

They went back in, each going to a different part of the house, knowing they wouldn't see each other again for a while.

Rose was talking heatedly with Edward, and on the other side of the party was Bella and Jasper entertaining King James.

"Rosie, babe." Emmett sneaked his arm around his girlfriend, and the look she show him could've frozen hot lava.

"Have fun talking to your ex?"

Emmett cast his eyes to Edward, but the man chose that moment to butt out.

"Don't look at me, man. It wasn't my fuck-up. If the two of you will excuse me, I have to pretend now to be busy," then he left, wanting to be far from the ensuing squabble.

Edward then spend twenty minutes talking KUWTK with Mrs. Swan.

"Sorry about that, James," Vicky said when she arrived with her date, who seemed to be very amused by the bickering couple; it seemed like Jasper was dead set on hooking Bella on an animated series she had no intention of watching.

"It's ok. That's the infamous ex, I presume?" His lips pressed together, showing Vicky he wasn't particularly overjoyed.

"Yeah he is," Bella piped up. "My brother, who is admittedly an ass. Trust me, she dodged a bullet with that guy."

James gave Bella a weird look, and she shrugged in response.

"I'd give my life for the man. Doesn't mean I can't see he's a prick when he wants to be."

"Boy, I wonder what you say about me when I'm not there." Jasper muttered, making everyone laugh at him.

"I say you're the greatest man alive," Bella teased, which really wasn't far off about how she spoke of him. "Just as I'm sure you say I'm the greatest chick to grace this planet."

Chuckling good-naturedly, he was about to say something when a force to be reckoned with crashed into his girlfriend.

"Uff," the air left her, and she turned around to see who it was. Immediately, her eyes lit up. "Ali!"

Alice Brandon was one of the few friends Bella had made upon entering college. Assessing her small friend, she saw that she'd dressed as Tinker Bell, which fit her rather well.

"Hi Bella!" She giggled cutely, because everything that Ali did was cute. It should've been annoying, but Bella recognized how real the girl was and how full of life. She was cute because that's how she was, simple as that. Besides; she withstood her grumpy ass all day. Few people did that.

"How are you? You look so good," Bella gushed, admiring the outfit. "I need to show Angela, she's a huge Peter Pan fan. Where _is_ she, anyway? She was around here like fifteen minutes ago, and then she disappeared..." Bella babbled to herself. "Jasper, Alice. She's in one of my classes. I'll be right back."

Bella left them without much preamble, and awkwardly, Alice and Jasper stared at each other. The couple was busy whispering amongst themselves.

"Hi, like she said, I'm Jasper." He held his hand out, which Alice shook. There was a spark of electricity, and they pulled their hands back. Creepy stuff. "Sorry."

"It's ok," she smiled, pushing back her short back hair. "You're the boyfriend, I imagine. Bella speaks a lot about you," she revealed, making the boy blush.

"All good things, I hope."

She smiled wider.

"I don't think I've heard her say a bad thing about you." She said, and it was true. Chuckling at his girlfriend's weird nature (she was incapable of saying a compliment or receiving one in person, but indirectly, she handed them out joyously), Jasper took a moment to assess his girlfriend's friend. She was gorgeous, of course, and looked like she'd come out of an anime. Big eyes, short hair, tiny body. Bubbly personality. He wondered how Bella had managed to befriend this kind of cartoonish girl, which seemed out of norm for her. Bella liked her friends sarcastic and fun, but not necessarily sweet and giggly.

He didn't give it much thought, beyond that.

If this girl made his girlfriend happy, then he liked her. Simple.

"She speaks highly of you, too," Jasper admitted, and it was true. From the times Iz had mentioned she'd been hanging out with the pixy-like girl, she'd always spoken animatedly of how nice she was.

"So we're both great people?" Alice teased, and they laughed at the lame joke. She was about to say something else when Bella returned, Angela in tow.

"Could you believe this girl? She went to hide out in the bathroom. I found her gorging on snacks." Bella frowned at her friend disapprovingly. "Didn't even save some for me."

Therein the real problem.

"I was hungry," Angela whined, still brushing off crumbs of Pringles from her M&M costume. Angela was normally quite fashionable, but she'd recently broken up with her boyfriend, so fashion wasn't going to happen any time soon. That, and she'd spent so much money recently on food that she didn't have money left to buy a prettier outfit.

"Aren't we all?" Bella rolled her eyes, settling easily into her boyfriend's side. "But _we_ know that sharing is caring."

" _Bullshit_ , Bella. You always gorge down food so you don't have to share it," Angela accused, and with good reason, too. It was true as well, not that Bella would admit it; she really did swallow down food at an astonishing rate just so people wouldn't ask her to share it with them.

"I—" Bella was about to keep defending herself when a soft hand on her elbow stopped her. She turned to look at her boyfriend questioningly.

"B, babe, stop it. You know this isn't an argument you can win. Besides," he said with a knowing look. "Why was it again you invited Angela over?"

Bella sighed.

"So she could stuff her face with food." She admitted, making Angela beam. Yeah, that's why she loved this crazy girl; at the end of the day, Bella was loyal to a fault and knew how to take care of her friends. She and Bella hadn't been hanging out that much, as of late, what with college, boyfriends and their own personal dramas. Guiltily, she thought back to a few weeks back, when a desperate Bella had called her about having fought with Jasper. She'd been too busy with her own drama, fighting with her boyfriend day and night, so she'd barked at her friend that she was too busy and had hung up. One of these days, she'd remember to apologize to Bella. She was always there for her, and she hadn't been there for her.

"Aw, you brought me here to feed me?" Angela batted her eyelashes at the girl, then slapped her arm. "Think a little about my cholesterol levels, will you?"

The group of four spent five minutes bickering amongst themselves before James and Vicky finally came out of their little bubble.

"—kidding me. _Spirit_ is most definitely the greatest movie _ever_." Angela was arguing with Jasper, who wasn't having it.

"It's a very depressing story. _Hercules_ is much better," he said, and Vicky saw Bella nod along with her boyfriend. Bella wasn't all that sure about what he was saying; all she knew was that he looked hot saying it.

" _Hercules_? It's the tragic story of a guy that kills his whole family!" Alice disagreed, and now, Bella had to back up Ali. She wasn't just into Japanese stuff, after all, and would've gone for a career that studied anything Ancient Greece if she hadn't felt it was too mainstream.

"That's not how Disney puts it." Jasper countered, and was about to continue when the meddlesome almost-couple stuck themselves between the actual couple. "Can we help you?"

Vicky grinned.

"Yes, stop acting like the geeks you are and have some fun with the rest of us." She put her arm around Bella, and James put his arm around Jasper. Amused, Angela and Alice watched the party of four bicker for a while about the term 'geek' (which, truthfully, neither Jasper nor Bella could refute), then give up in favor of pulling in the two girls as intermediaries.

"Hey, Bella? Can I talk to you for a sec?" Edward appeared out of nowhere, not that Angela was complaining; she more than anyone enjoyed the Edgar look, avid _Dawning_ and _Old Sun_ (another of Robert Pattinson's movies) fan that she was. Well, both Angela and Jasper were almost equally appreciative of Edward's costume.

Raising an eyebrow, Bella nodded, excusing herself with a promise to come back soon.

Edward led her to the backyard, where people weren't as clumped together.

"What's up?" Bella asked once they could hear themselves over the music. It was strange, but the music seemed louder in certain spots of the house, independently of where the loudspeakers were. Odd.

Looking around, Edward finally let out what he wanted to say.

"Remember to have protected sex," he blurted out, shocking Bella in a way that she didn't think she _could_ be anymore.

" _What_?" She gaped, and then, for good measure, added, "Gramps?"

Edward sighed, beating himself up over how it must've sounded.

He really should've been smoother.

"Tonight. With Jasper." He mumbled, sighing again when Bella gave him an incredulous look. "I overheard you talking to Angela a few days ago about how 'tonight was gonna be the night', alright? I didn't mean to, but I did and now I _have_ to say this." This was so incredibly uncomfortable. "You're nineteen, Bella. A grown woman, but not quite. You still get swept away by teenage hormones. Please, just... Promise me you won't make me kill Jasper under Rose's command if he knocks you up."

Was that what this was about?

Somehow, Bella felt both amused and annoyed. Amused by how awkward and a worrywart Edward was, and annoyed by him assuming she'd be swept away by some dumb hormones as if she was a rabbit. Also, she thought they'd established a long time ago that if she bled out of her vagina she could very well count as a grown woman. That, and the fact that he'd only defend her virtue if it was by Rosalie's orders, but she really had no business feeling this way. It was a mixture of emotions inside of her, all jumbled up and not necessarily identified.

"Um, thanks for worrying?" Bella tried, not really knowing what to answer. "But I've got this."

"I know that, but—"

"Edgar, dude, seriously. _It's fine_. I've _got_ this. I have everything planned, much as it pains me to admit it to you. I'm capable of protecting myself. And even if he did somehow manage to knock me up... don't kill him. That's murder, and not only will you end up in jail, I also sort of really love the guy."

Sighing, Edgar raised his hands up in defeat.

"Fine. But I've done my best, so remember that when you have to buy my Christmas gift." He joked, and Bella rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"You've been a pest," she deadpanned, but acknowledged his words. "You were sweet to worry about me, so thanks. Even if it was because of you not wanting to kill a man."

Edward didn't tell her this, and he wouldn't for many years to come, but he didn't do it out of any sense of duty as Rose's best friend, or even as a responsible adult figure. He just _really_ wanted to make sure Bella felt supported on such a special night, and he wanted her to know that, should anything happen, he'd have her back.

But again; she wouldn't know any of this until many years later.

It would be then, too, that he'd admit to her the irrational side of him that had sort of wanted to be her first sexual partner.

"You're very welcome, Ms. Swan," he smiled, forcing Bella to acknowledge just how damned hot this man was, in a way that was totally different from Jazz. Then his smile turned into a grimace when he thought of something important. "Do you think the conversation between your brother and Vicky went well?"

Bella raised an arm in a the-devil-may-care gesture, looking like a replica of the emoji of a girl doing the same thing.

"Who knows?" Bella asked, because she really didn't know. "I imagine Vicky told him what she'd been holding back all these years. She had my authorization to rip him a new one despite it being a party, but I don't know if she did."

"You never did tell me more about her relationship with Emmett," Edward commented, actually curious. "I mean, Emmett said she was the rebound, but nothing else."

Bella quirkier an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I'll tell you? It's not my story to tell."

Edward turned on the charm.

"Please?" He batted his eyelashes. He didn't charm the panties off of Bella, but he certainly charmed the good judgment off of her.

She groaned.

"Fine, fine. Vicky had been after my brother for the longest time, and when he finally broke things off with May, they dated. She'd really liked my idiot of an older brother, but he was very detached from her. Asshole. Anyway, apparently, she broke things off with him a short while after he met Rose. He wasn't cheating on Vicky, but it was obvious he wanted more from Rose and less from her. It scarred her, and she broke things off with him. They hadn't seen each other since their breakup until today." Bella did her best to break down the summary of things without actually divulging the depth of Vicky's wounds. She didn't think it would be right to speak of someone else's demons.

"So she really _was_ a rebound." Edward mused; he hadn't really believed it when he'd been told that. There was something that didn't feel real about it; maybe, after having known Emmett so long, he hadn't actually thought he'd be capable of using a girl to get over another.

Goes to show just how little he knew the guy.

"Yeah, both of them knew it. Dumb pair, the two of them," Bella groused, then sneezed. The cold was starting to pick up, and she was only wearing the maid's outfit. _Surprisingly_ , it appeared it wasn't warm enough (cue eye roll). Edward moved to give her his jacket, only to remember he wasn't currently wearing one, because the one he'd brought was currently being hogged by none other than Jasper. The teen was always cold, it seemed; Edward couldn't remember having seen him without at least two jackets any time they'd met.

"Maybe we should head back in," Edward suggested, and Bella agreed, though she had to say one thing first.

"Wait. Edward..." she trailed off, watching the handsome man in front of her. He was really kind to her, and she felt that she should return the favor somehow.

"Yeah?"

She swallowed.

"You should let Rose go." She stated, shocking him. Of all things, he hadn't expected her to be another person to tell him he should let go of his feelings for his best friend. "You deserve someone who loves you back. Someone who treats you like their number one. You deserve that. Rose... I think she's it for my brother. I just don't want you spending more of your time on a dead-end love."

Edward wanted to yell.

He wanted to yell at Bella that this was none of her business. That he already knew he should've let go of Rosalie Hale ages ago. That she wouldn't understand because Jasper _did_ love her. There were many nasty things he wanted to tell her, and Bella noticed, because as he'd once said, he was an open book. She was about to start apologizing when he spoke up.

"I know," he said, defeated. "I know."

And he really did.

Satisfied, Bella gave him a sweet smile; she really did mean well, and Edward knew it. She wanted him to get over Rose, and not because she was her brother's girlfriend, or because it was the logical thing to do. She just wanted Edward happy and in love; like her.

"Alright," Bella said, her eyes crinkling with her smile. "Let's go back inside. I'm freezing out here."

When they got back to their friends, they saw that James and Vicky had gone off to the corner and were gathered quite close together, foreheads almost touching. Rose and Emmett were entertaining some friends they'd invited, and Alice and Jasper were talking animatedly. Angela had gone off and was stuffing her face with sweets, as was right and just.

"Whatcha talking about?" Bella chirped up, sliding under Jasper's arm without warning and startling the guy in the process.

"Politics," the pair echoed, making Bella and Edward roll their eyes.

"Oh, come on. Stop. We aren't here to talk about such horrible stuff." Bella whined, fed up already with how much everyone liked talking about it. It's not that she didn't; truly, she found politics fascinating and interesting, but the last months had been a political nightmare.

Jasper and Alice immediately protested, but she had Edward's support.

"No no, there'll be none of that in this house. You can talk about all of that tomorrow." He said, and he sounded so resolute that the couple shut up.

Alice sighed.

"Well, I've gotta roll, anyway. I only planned on crashing the party for like half an hour. My parents threw their own Halloween party and threatened to disown me if I'm not there like the dutiful daughter I am." Ali groaned, and started saying her goodbyes despite the protests. "Jasper, Edward, it was very nice meeting you."

Was it just him, or did her gaze appear to linger on Jasper?

Edward shook off the thought; Bella hadn't even batted an eyelash, so he must've been imagining things.

"I'll see you on Monday, alright?" Bella hugged the girl tightly, wishing Ali could've spent more time at the party.

"Yeah. Bright and early for our partial exam."

Bella paled considerably.

"Fuck. That was _this_ Monday?" Her pitch rose hysterically, and Alice just rolled her eyes and said her final goodbye; Bella was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them. She always paid a lot of attention, so she'd have an easy time studying. Almost anyone who met her agreed she could've gone for a much tougher career, like medicine, but Bella hadn't wanted to. That wasn't her calling by any measurement.

"I haven't studied for that," Jasper could've sworn he heard his girlfriend whisper, but before he could get the chance to ask, Bella was already dragging him away from the party.

"Smell ya later, Edgar Collins," Bella called over her shoulder, throwing the man a cheeky grin. Open mouthed, he watched the small, young woman drag her boyfriend away from the party, up the stairs and, probably, into her room.

Edward didn't stay much longer after that.

"Hey Iz, what are you doing?" Jasper asked curiously, watching as the woman he loved locked the door to her bedroom and pushed him to sit on her bed. This was the second time ever he stepped foot in her room; the first had been for a grand total of two minutes, and that had been because she had to grab a manga for him but needed guidance for recognizing it. That had been when they were just friends, and Bella's parents had been incredibly strict about him not ever stepping foot in the bedroom again. Boys weren't allowed, and Bella was surprisingly obedient about the rule.

Not that he was bothered by that.

Really really.

"I'm seducing you," she explained simply, laughing when Jasper all but choked on his own spit.

"You're _what_?"

"Seducing you." She repeated, undeterred. "We've been dating for almost a year, and I thought..." she trailed off, undoing one of her braids. "Maybe this would be a good birthday present."

Jasper turned twenty four days ago.

"You don't have to do this," Jasper said, and he really meant it. He didn't think it was fair to Bella to ask something like this of her; then again, he hadn't, really. He'd told her he was willing to wait as long as was necessary for her to feel comfortable, and so far, he'd stood by his word. Sure, every time they'd been _just_ about to actually have sex, she'd put the breaks on things, leaving him hot and bothered. He hadn't complained (much) though, and had let her decide when the time was right.

It appeared now was the time.

"I don't, but I want to." Bella smiled at him, already undoing her other braid. "I love you, and I love you've waited for me to be ready. Now I am."

Well, he didn't have to be told three times.

* * *

"So, how was it?" Angela asked her on Monday when they were having their usual lunch together.

"I'm not gonna discuss my sex life with you," Bella stated calmly, then yelped when her shoulder got backhanded by an angry friend. "What the fuck, Angela?"

"I've been waiting for this moment for the last five years, I want some bloody details." The girl snapped angrily, amusing Bella to no end.

"Aw, you've been worried about my innocence? That's so sweet, you shouldn't have," Bella teased. "Really. It's creepy and you've thought one too many times about my vagina."

"Isabella."

"Ouch. Pulling out the big guns already?" Bella huffed, hating hearing her full name. "Fine, fine. I'll tell you if it'll make you so happy."

Angela cheered.

Swallowing down the rest of her fries, Bella retold her story.

"He was adorably awkward. I mean, neither of us had done it before, you know? And what with my insecurities, he even let me turn the lights off. It wasn't _completely_ dark, so he probably saw everything, but it was enough for me to not look at myself if I didn't try. Obviously, I didn't. Anyways, he sort of had a hard time putting the condom on, and then I actually had to guide him inside, and, well..." Bella blushed, unwilling to admit this but needing to say it. "And he came in like two minutes flat."

Unbidden, a memory from a few weeks ago came into her head:

 _"I like our relationship as it is now; we talk of anything and everything, and sexual things take the backseat. I'm scared that after doing it, that's all our relationship will be about." She confessed. "I mean, what if you suck?"_

 _I was just joking, God,_ Bella whimpered miserably to herself.

Angela, the ungrateful bitch who was from here on grounded from gossip, howled with laughter.

"Oh, tell me he at _least_ gave you one orgasm."

Bella, flushing deeply, shook her head no.

Angela's mouth dropped open, and she was visibly trying to rein in her laughter.

"Did it hurt?"

Bella made a face.

"Not much. It wasn't as bad as I've read, and I definitely didn't cry or anything like that. It was more... uncomfortable." She reluctantly admitted, feeling like she was casting Jasper in a bad light.

"Well, first times are rarely magical, if ever. And hey! At least you remembered the condom," Angela winked, like it was really an accomplishment. Bella supposed it was, but then again, she wouldn't have done it without one even if Jasper had begged her.

They'd laid on her bed, breathing hard for a few minutes, until both were eventually just staring up at the ceiling, quiet.

"I'm sorry," Jasper had blurted out after a while. "I came too soon, didn't I?"

Bella had shrugged.

"I don't know. I haven't exactly done this before, ya know?" Bella had told him.

"I'm sorry," Jasper had repeated, and he'd sounded so miserable that she had grabbed his hand consolingly.

"Don't be. I'm glad we did it," she'd meant it, too. "It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be."

He'd squeezed her hand.

"I'll be better next time."

"You fucking better be."

After that, they'd both gotten dressed and had stayed in Bella's room for a while, knowing they wouldn't be sought after until at least midnight.

"It wasn't magical, but it was comfortable, as is everything in our relationship." Bella explained, biting into her burger. "I suppose that describes us pretty much to the T."

Angela pursed her lips unhappily.

"Don't you think you deserve a relationship that's more... exhilarating?" She asked, and though she'd expected a glare from her friend, all she received was a huff.

"This isn't a fanfiction, Ange. Sometimes exhilarating isn't what people look for, but simple happiness." Bella said, licking some ketchup from her lip. "I love Jasper. I can't see myself trading it for anything."

* * *

 **Uh oh, cliffhanger! Can you feel the tension rising? Can you?! I can, but then again, I know how it all ends. *mwahaha* I would've made a sex scene, but I sort of didn't want to. As it was previously remarked, there isn't much chemistry between Jazz and Bella (although I do enjoy writing about their relationship, because I think it's healthy and the kind I admire), so I figured it'd be as awkward for you to read a sex scene between them as it would be for me to write it. Um, as I remarked previously, this weekend I might not be able to update since I'm going on vacations. IF I'm unable to upload from my iPad, then the next update will probably be until the first week of January, unless I manage to hijack a computer.**

 **Thanks for all your wonderful comments. I haven't replied to all of them but I'll get to it. You make me incredibly happy with every follow, favorite and review.**

 **Leah.**


	5. Heartbroken

**Warning: get your tear glands ready.**

 **DISCLAIMER: ALL I HAVE IS FREE TIME UNTIL THE SECOND WEEK OF JANUARY.**

* * *

The next six months went by in a blur. Finals came and went, as did Christmas and New Years. Bella and Jasper met only on weekends, and by March, Bella had started noticing a change in Jasper. He was smiling less, he read less books and he started becoming less and less interested in having sex (not that they had much —they had an average sex drive limited by college duties). His mind was elsewhere, and he seemed to be reluctant about having Bella over at his house. This, though, was something Bella hardly noticed, given the fact that she was too busy with college to really worry about the change in her boyfriend. Every time she asked him what was wrong, he'd blow her off or argue that he was absolutely fine. After a while, Bella stopped pushing, not really knowing what to do.

* * *

 _"_ _Jasper, it's me again. Are you ok? You haven't called all day."_

 _"_ _Sorry Iz, I've been busy. Can I call you back in an hour?"_

 _"_ _Jazz, it was Valentine's today. You aren't here, and you said you'd make reservations for us. If you aren't here by six, I'm going over to hang out with Edward. He told me he had reservations for some fancy restaurant and needs someone to go with. Call me."_

 _"_ _Hey Jazz, it's me. Again. What is it these days? I saw you for like five minutes on New Years, and you bailed on me for Valentine's. I ate very well, by the way, not that you asked." Pause. "Are you... Are you thinking of breaking up with me? Can't we talk about it?"_

 _"_ _Hi Bella, I'm sorry that I made you feel like that. Nothing's wrong. Let's go to the movies this Friday, alright?"_

 _"_ _Bella, it's me. I'm sorry I couldn't make it. Something came up at home. Let's reschedule, alright?"_

 _"_ _Jasper Whitlock, I'm seriously angry with you. You've rescheduled meeting me three times in the last month. We haven't seen each other once! When are we gonna fucking meet? I keep making time for us from my own busy schedule but you can't even take five minutes to let me know you can't make it?"_

Then April came.

 _"_ _Hey Izzy, it's me. Can we meet up at Johnny's? I know it's Wednesday and you've got classes tomorrow, but I really need to see you."_

* * *

Dutifully, wanting to raise some hell for all the missed dates (she'd been busy, not void of free time), Bella got to Johnny's with a few minutes to spare. Jasper was always very punctual, and knowing him, he'd attempt to be there early to get there before her. Wanting to one up him, she got there about twenty minutes before five, the agreed upon time. But then five came around, and then five fifteen, and finally five forty-five.

She was so angry. So hurt. She thought today she'd get answers out of him, but instead he stood her up?

Her hurt was pushed back as soon as she saw him come in.

She was seated facing the front door, so she saw him arrive. He looked worn, and ghastly, with his pale skin and sunken eyes. His hair stuck out in all directions, and his lips were chapped.

He got to her in what felt like a heartbeat.

"Izzy," Jasper greeted, and he sounded so tired that her heart clenched.

"Jazz," she said, frowning, concern beating through her. "What's wrong? You don't look so good."

He licked his lips, and suddenly, the hamburger in front of her wasn't as appealing as before.

"Dad's sick." He said, and his voice was so cracked it took Bella a moment to discern his words.

Her soul sunk.

"Mr. Whitlock... Is sick?" She repeated, and her boyfriend nodded. "Oh my God, Jasper, that's terrible. What's wrong with him? Do you need help? Is there anything I can do?" She babbled, not liking one bit the situation.

"It's pancreatic cancer. There's nothing the doctors can do but make him comfortable." He said, and his voice sounded so hollow she felt a chill pass by her.

She leaned forward, clasping her hand in his.

"Tell me how I can help, baby. Please."

But he retracted his hand.

"I need to start working to pay the hospital bills," he said, and the hollowness seemed to seep into Bella's bones. "Between work, school and the hospital I won't have time for you, B. I'm sorry."

Panic seized her, threatening to suffocate her.

"No, Jasper, p-please don't—"

"Let's break up." He said quickly, and that's because he knew if he didn't say it now, he'd never say it.

The heartbreak that flittered through his girlfriend's face threatened to break him at the seams, but he had to stay strong.

"I don't understand," Bella whispered, feeling like madness was starting to rip apart her fragile mind. "Why?"

"It's too much for me, Izzy. And me being so overwhelmed will only be a burden for you. _I'm_ not ready to deal with all of this; I don't want to find out if you are."

She was hearing words, but she couldn't really process them.

"You're breaking up with me," Bella repeated, "When you need me the most?"

Jasper pressed his lips into a thin line to keep from crying out.

"What about what _I_ want? What _I_ need? I _need_ you, Jasper. I love you, for fuck's sake," she whispered, and her eyes filled with tears and her lips twitched with the need to scream.

"I love you, too," he replied hoarsely. "Which is why I don't want you to be with me. My presence right now is toxic. I... Don't feel like myself lately, Iz. I feel dark inside. Wrong. I don't know for how long this will go on. So please, don't wait for me, either."

The heartlessness of this man.

"Are you saying my love is so shallow I couldn't stand beside you during your roughest times? Do you think I care how toxic you are right now? You're Jasper, the man I fell in love with. Being there for you is the peace of mind I yearn for. Are you going to take away from me the satisfaction of supporting you, no matter what?"

The amount of love she had for him staggered his senses.

But the show had to go on.

"I am, if that's what it takes. I'm trying to protect you, Izzy. Why can't you see that?"

But the tears had started on her behalf, and nothing would stop them now.

"Go. I can't... I..." She bit her lip, incapable of forcing out the words. "Don't leave me," she managed to get out, trying to swallow past the bile, trying to see past the tears. For once she wanted to be honest with herself.

Jasper's face became blurred to her, which was why she couldn't make out the tears streaming down his face.

"I called your brother; he should be here any moment now. He'll take you home, alright?" Jasper said softly, gentle as always when speaking to her. He got out of his side of the booth, went to Bella's side and dropped a kiss on her head.

"I love you, Isabella Swan. Now and always."

Then he left, leaving the bitter taste of goodbye on Bella's tongue.

Time was non-sequential after that.

"Yeah, I'm with her. She hasn't said anything since I found her."

"Rie? What happened? Whitlock ca—"

"What do you think happened to her, Rose? She doesn't respond to any stimulus or —"

"I love you, Isabella —"

"Yeah, mom, I think she should stay with me —"

"Get out of here, Cullen, Rie needs to be alone right —"

"Whitlock called me a few minutes ago, saying I should go to Johnny Rocket's. I don't know what he did to her, but Rie isn't saying anything right now. I'm —"

"He broke up with me!" Bella finally wailed, interrupting whatever sentence was being uttered at the moment; vaguely, she realized that her brother had been pacing, Rose had a blanket covering her as well as an arm around her, and Edward was sitting in front of her, putting some warm socks on her cold feet.

"Oh, thank God," she heard Rose mutter, and in her irrationality, didn't realize she wasn't rejoicing at the breakup but at the fact that she'd finally said something after three hours of sheer silence.

"What do you mean, thank God? My boyfriend of over a _year_ just broke up with me! Jasper doesn't trust me to be there for him! He's suffering, and all I am is baggage!" Bella wailed again, and the tears poured out of her fiercely and freely. Snot ran down her nose, and Rose was startled to see she'd started shaking. Nobody knew how to help the heartbroken girl. There was nothing anybody knew to do.

"What do I do?" mouthed Rose to Emmett, who looked just as desperate as her. He'd never been broken up with in a relationship he cared about, and neither had Rose. Em had the heartbreak from May, but somehow, he had a hunch Jasper had meant more to Bella than May ever had to him. Rose had only ever had one serious boyfriend before Emmett, and they'd broken up because they didn't want to do a long distance relationship. They didn't understand at all how Bella was feeling.

Lucky for them, Edward did.

"Get out," Edward mouthed to the couple, making a shooing motion. Rose asked with her face why, and Emmett just glared. "I can help," he signed towards the banshee, and that was really all the convincing that they needed.

Bolting up, Rose grabbed Em's hand and all but ran out of the apartment.

"Wait, Rosie, don't you think—" Em started protesting as they made their way to the elevator, but Rose shook her head so profusely he stopped.

"Nobody is better suited to comfort than Edward. If he says he's got Bella, he's got her."

For once, Em didn't feel the flare of jealousy that usually accompanied a compliment to Cullen. He supposed it must've been because he was just that desperate to help his baby sister. He'd never felt more helpless when it came to her, and he'd seen her cry about how much she hated herself in a way only a desperate woman could.

"Alright," he said finally, nodding almost imperceptibly. "I'll trust him."

Edward let Bella cry it all out. She must've cried for thirty minutes straight, and for thirty minutes Edward just sat in front of her, rubbing her feet. His heart hurt over watching this young, vivid girl looking so crumpled and broken. Bella deserved better than this.

Then the wails became sobs, and the sobs became hiccups, and the hiccups became sniffles.

"I only wanted to help him," she whimpered finally. "But it seems all I am is baggage."

Edward kept rubbing.

"Tell me what happened. I, too, want to help you, B."

Her lip quivered, and despite how hard it was, she managed to get out the story without breaking down.

"Am I baggage, Edward?" She asked at the end, all out of tears. "Don't lie to me, please."

He wondered what the right answer was, but he gave her the only one he had.

" _You_ feel like you are, and that's what matters. To him, right now, living itself might be a burden. So yes, to him, a relationship might be too big a responsibility. But not _you_ , Bella. He's not thinking about what _you_ can handle, and he thinks that doing this is what's right for you. Maybe he's right. All we can do now is deal with the reality of his choice."

Her heart clenched.

"It hasn't even been five hours and already I miss him like crazy. How could this be right for me?"

Edward thought for a while.

"Have you ever lost something important to you?" He asked, leaning forward.

"My virginity," she replied instantly, and Edward gave a startled, loud laugh. If she could joke, she'd obviously be fine. A part of him settled down; maybe he wouldn't have to kill Jasper, after all.

"No, I didn't mean anything like that. You lost a grade, you totaled your bike, stuff like that."

She shrugged.

"Nothing that I ever cared to lose."

He nodded.

"Can I tell you about the time _I_ lost something? I promise I'm not trying to make this about myself. I just think it might make it easier for you to understand how Jasper's choice had nothing to do with you."

Bella nodded readily; in all the time she'd known Edward, she'd only ever learned snippets of who he was. Rose's best friend, an avid fan of KUWTK, a spiritual person, a doctor. She'd tried asking him about more personal things, but he'd always diverted the conversation. Like he hadn't wanted to give her the chance to get to know him beyond the superficial level.

"Yeah," she croaked out.

So he began his story.

"Back in college, before I even got into med school, I started drinking a lot," he began, and somehow, it was the last thing Bella had ever expected. "I was having problems at home, you see, because my little sister kept flunking every high school subject, which angered my parents and they released their stress on me. Then my dad got fired, and I had to start working. Life was hectic for about a year. So every night, after my last shift, I'd go home, grab a bottle of hard liquor from my dad's stash, and lose my mind. Back then was the height of my love for Rose, which meant I was also melancholic. You can see my situation was sort of fucked up, right?"

 _Very_ fucked up.

"So, months before graduation, when I was supposed to be studying for the MCATs, I was working, wallowing and drinking. I was a mess. Rose came up to me one day at a party, grabbed the red cup from my hand and shouted at me in front of everyone that I was fucking up my life one cup of beer at a time. She was right, of course, but I was so angry. At her, for not loving me. At my dad, for being unable to keep a job. At my sister, for being so fucking lazy. At life, for making things so difficult. In my anger, I yelled at Rose that I never wanted to see her again. And you know what? I really didn't."

He took a moment to compose himself. Sighing, he stood up, went to the kitchen, and got two glasses of water. He gave the fuller one to Bella and drank down his own.

He continued.

"I graduated from college because it was God's will that I did. I don't remember most of the last months, to be honest," he confessed, picturing the blurs that had been his life. "After graduation, I had to take a good, hard look at my life. I realized, thankfully, that I needed help. I spent six months at an inpatient rehab center, and that may very well have saved my life. After rehab, I applied to med school, and I managed to get in a year later than planned."

He took another moment to assemble his words. He was so focused on his story he didn't notice Bella's intense interest in his background.

"It took me another year to gather up the courage to beg Rose for forgiveness. I'd been rude to her, had probably behaved in unforgivable ways, and had broken up my friendship with her because of my inability to keep my sanity. I'd been best friends with her since kindergarten, and then I hadn't been able to meet with her for nearly two years. I lost the most important friendship to me because of my fucked up situation."

They were silent for a few minutes.

"Having heard my side of it, how do you think Rose saw it? When I finally managed to gather up enough courage to talk to her, what do you think she thought?" Edward finally asked, having watched as Bella processes the story.

"She was mad about how you treated her," Bella guessed, and her voice was too hoarse for her liking, so she cleared her throat. "But she was glad you got help."

He hummed.

"That was part of it. But when I first went up to her and explained what had happened, she posed a very hard question for me. She asked: Why didn't you let me help you? And I hadn't known what to say at first, but as the week went by, I managed to call her to give her an answer. I told her: I didn't want your help. I didn't want _anybody's_ help. Of course I knew I could trust you to be there for me, but at the end of the day, all I wanted was to be left alone. I said this to the woman I'd loved for the better part of my life, and I meant it. She asked why I didn't contact her after I'd gone through rehab, and I told her it was because I had no idea how to approach her. I told her I hadn't forgiven myself yet for the hardship I put her through. Can you see where I'm going with this?"

Bella nodded slowly.

She thought so.

"I don't know Jasper well enough to make any absolute statement. However, from what I saw, I can tell he really, truly loves you. He cares enough to not let you get pulled into his mess. I let Rose get involved in my alcoholism because I was beyond caring what anyone thought, and it resulted in a strained friendship for a long time. Jasper, despite how he feels, took the time to consider your feelings and give you an out. The best thing you could possibly do right now is give him the relief of feeling he did _something_ right amidst the mess. If he sees that breaking up with you had more benefits than downsides, I think he'll be strengthened to continue his fight. Back then, what drove me to the edge was that I felt everything was wrong. Maybe Jasper won't self-destruct the way I did if he feels accomplished enough."

Edward shrugged; this was all he had.

Bella marveled at what she'd just heard.

So, Edward Cullen was a far more complex man than she'd given him credit for. He'd recovered from an addiction, he'd lost his best friend once and he was actually capable of giving a good pep talk, something she'd been privy of once or twice before.

Her lip quivered, the emotion threatening to overtake her.

"I just love him so much, Edgar. He's given me a lot more than I've ever given him. I can't believe I have to let him go." Bella admitted, vaguely realizing that Edward had been rubbing her feet the whole time. "What if he's just using this as an excuse to get rid of me? To finally get together with Maria? He even told me not to wait for him," she finally voiced her biggest fear.

Unexpectedly, Edward rolled his eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course he isn't. His father is dying and he's being overworked. He's just a kid, Bella. Dealing with life is not his forte yet, although I have to say, he's been doing admirably if what you've said is true."

She sighed, nodding her agreement.

"What do I do?" She whispered, mostly to herself, but a part of her also seeking guidance.

"Don't stop being his friend," Edward answered easily enough. "He shouldn't be alone right now. Tell him you'll help him in whatever he needs, whenever he needs it. Let him know that even if you can't be his girlfriend, you can be his friend."

She frowned.

"But you just said you wished you hadn't dragged Rose into your mess," she accused, failing to understand him.

"I did, but my problem was also a lot more intrinsic. There was nothing anybody could do _for_ me," he explained. "I felt like there was nothing I could do to lessen my load, and there was nothing anybody could do to help me. You can still help Jasper. You can tell him that you could help taking over a work shift for him so he can study or visit his dad, or you can tell him you'll help him study for his classes. He might want to do things by himself, but that doesn't mean he should."

As he spoke, Bella started becoming more and more determined. Her tears dried and she managed to clear her mind. Turning her bloodshot eyes towards Edward, she puffed her chest up.

"Can you take me somewhere?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"What _is_ this place?" Edward asked half an hour later as they pulled into an abandoned park.

Bella smiled fondly at the place.

"Jasper and I discovered it back in our freshman year, when we started becoming friends. It's where we had our first date, and both of us come here to think when things get tough. Look," she pointed, and indeed, there was a blond-haired figure walking aimlessly in loopy circles.

"He looks like a mess, even from here," Edward noted, and turning, he saw Bella didn't actually look much better, even though she'd stopped leaking tears a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, he does," she said quietly, licking her lips. She flickered her eyes briefly to him, then stared straight ahead, at her ex boyfriend. "I won't take long. Please wait for me."

He nodded.

"I'll wait as long as you need," he promised, and she knew he meant it. Smiling shyly, she dipped her head quickly, and then got out of the car before she lost her nerve.

Aware she was being watched, she walked quickly up to Jasper.

"I don't know how you found me, Maria, but I don't want to talk," Jasper snapped instantly, without looking up. He'd crouched mid-walk, looking towards the swings. "Go back home."

Bella felt pleased by the way he would've spoken to his best friend, but she buried the feeling.

"Won't you talk to _me_ , Jazz?" She asked softly, and he whipped around so fast he fell flat on his ass.

His eyes were even redder than hers, and snot ran down his nose.

"Izzy," he breathed, almost reverently. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged, crouching down next to him. With her sleeve, she wiped away his snot.

 _I love her so fucking much_ , Jasper thought, his heart squeezing painfully.

"I thought maybe you'd need me," she confessed. "Was I wrong?"

His response was to give her a fierce hug.

 _This feels so right_ , Bella thought, heartbroken. He'd always calmed her with his touch.

"I don't know if I can let you go," he made his own confession. "You're everything to me."

Pressing her lips together in order to not cry, she pulled away from his embrace.

"You've got to stick to your guns," Bella whispered. "I can't be another thing that causes you stress. All I want is to be of help."

"You being happy is of great help to me," he said immediately. "I _need_ you happy,"

She gave him his favorite smile.

"I want you happy, too. I'm... I'm not going to beg for us to get back together, Jazz. I want you, but I can't hold you down. So, I'll let you go. I'll be happy, and I'll let you go," she tried swallowing past the lump in her throat, but she still spoke in a choked manner. "But on the condition that you let me be your friend."

He started arguing with her, but she stopped him.

"You're my best friend, Jasper. You have been ever since you told me you loved manga," she smiled, thankful when he gave a short laugh. "Must I lose both my boyfriend and my best friend? I want to talk to you, and be there for you when you need me. As your friend. If you ask me to help you with something to make things easier, I want you to feel like you relied on one more person who cares for you. Can't I?"

He gave her a shaky smile.

"I can't ever win against you, Izzy. How are you always so damn wise?"

She shrugged, sheepish.

"I had help this time. Turns out the person who understood you the most is Edward."

Something like despair crossed Jasper's face, but Bella couldn't distinguish it.

"Cullen has a thing for you, Izzy. Mark my words," he said ominously, and instead of barking something at him, like he expected, Bella just laughed.

"Oh, _finally_ you feel like you've got competition? You ridiculous man," she laughed, but then her smile turned sad. "You shouldn't have let me go."

He swallowed hard.

"I know. What's worse is I know my loss is someone else's win and, Isabella —you're a _huge_ win. I'd almost be offended if Cullen didn't make a play for you."

How could she ever stop loving this man?

She gave him another wobbly smile, feeling lighter. He didn't say it, but Jasper felt much lighter too.

He hadn't completely lost his first love.

"Maybe in another lifetime we'll be reborn as fated soulmates," she said, cheesy as always.

For once, he indulged her.

"Wouldn't that be nice?"

Giving him a soft kiss on his cheek, Bella left, never looking back.

Kidding —she looked back long enough to throw him a kiss, knowing he'd be looking at her walk away.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Are you... ok?" Angela asked hesitantly, watching her best friend eat a French fry calmly. They weren't at Johnny Rocket's —Ange had suggested it and her idea had been immediately shut down— but at KFC, their second favorite place. Bella had missed Thursday and Friday of school, had stayed holed in her house on the weekend, and had finally resurfaced on Monday to catch up with her friend. Her eyes were puffy at best, but who could blame her?

"I'm not," Bella answered simply enough. "Every place has a reminder of Jasper. Of us. I..." she choked up, so she shut up. She'd only texted Angela that she and Jasper were done yesterday morning, not bothering to offer any details.

Fearful, Angela voiced her concerns.

"Did he cheat on you with Alice?" She blurted out, confusing the hell out of Bella. Alice? What the hell did she have to do with it?

"Alice? What of her?"

Angela sighed, wishing she'd shut her big mouth.

"Nothing." The glare that got sent her way made her elaborate. "It's just... Remember on Halloween? When you left us alone so you could go talk to Edgar? Well... They spent the whole time talking. Sort of ignored my existence, too, so I third-wheeled with Vicky and James until you got back." Bella frowned deeply at this information, deeply bothered. Al backtracked. "Don't get me wrong, neither put the moves on each other, but... I felt like something might've been there. Maybe I'm wrong. It's probably nothing."

 _Great, Ange. Rip my heart out._

"He broke up with me because his father's dying." Bella replied hollowly. "He doesn't want me to be there for the emotional breakdown."

Angela's mouth made an 'o' and, internally, she kicked herself for jumping to conclusions.

"That's... nice of him. Unilateral of his part, I think, but ultimately thoughtful of you. You _would_ suffer a lot when seeing first hand your boyfriend's dad die."

Bella glared.

"Somehow, I think _he'll_ suffer more," she snapped, then sighed, stuffing herself with more fries. "I'm sorry. You've got me thinking now about Alice. What if he really did break up with me because he felt a connection with her?"

Ange rolled her eyes.

"Jasper wouldn't lie to you. If he told you that, then that must be the truth." So simple; so true.

"I feel a little dead inside." Bella admitted. "I don't really know how to feel. A part of me feels like it's the end of the world, and another part feels like this is only the beginning."

Ange cocked her head to the side.

"The beginning of what?"

Bella shrugged, slurping at her drink.

"I don't really know. I've just got a feeling... like my eyes are being opened in the worst way possible in a way that I need. I don't know." Bella sighed, confused enough without having to repeat herself. "Maybe I'll do something great with my life without Jasper around. Maybe I'll be a fraud, I don't know."

So frustrating.

"Take it easy, woman." Ange bit into a chicken thigh. "You only just broke up. You can give yourself time to be sad, if that's what you want. You can also skip the whole 'feelings' thing and start being proactive. Involve yourself in tons of shit. Date. Rub it in his face that you can be incredibly happy."

Bella frowned.

"I don't want to rub my happiness in his face."

"Right. I forgot," Ange frowned, having forgotten that not all relationships ended like hers tended to —ugly and with lots of shouting. "Well, the rest still stands."

She sighed.

"I just want to rest for now. It turns out having your heart broken takes a lot out of you."

True that.

"Come on. I promised your brother I'd have you home by six."

"Hey Rie," Emmett greeted her that evening, when Angela dropped her off at the building. "How are you?" He asked softly, enveloping her in a bear hug.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "A bit broken, but also whole. It's odd."

Sighing, Emmett dropped a kiss on her head before ushering her in.

Suddenly, Bella noticed how formal Emmett looked, and that Rose, who was pacing in the kitchen, also looked dressed up perfectly.

"Um, guys?" Bella asked, confused when she also saw Edward laying around in his sweatpants in front of the TV. This was clearly not a group outing.

"Oh, Bella!" Rose rushed to her side as soon as she saw her, grabbing her in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you. I hadn't seen you since —well. You had Em and I worried sick. Edward took you out before we could see you, and believe me when I say I gave him hell for that."

Bella smiled to herself, thinking how nice it was to have people worry about her.

"Yeah, I needed to see Jasper. Edward helped," Bella replied, finally separating from Rose's warm hug. "Also, where are you two going? You bailing on me?"

Emmett gave her a pained smile.

"Well, I have a company dinner, and Rose had agreed to come with me a while back. I tried broaching the subject with my boss about not going, but he basically told me I was fired if I cancelled last minute. So, for reinforcements, we brought in Cullen."

Edward waved from his spot.

"I don't need a babysitter." Bella frowned. She only agreed to stay with Rose and Emmett because she was sick of being holed up in her own house. That, and she thought she'd get to ask for pizza delivery, something her mother frowned upon deeply.

"No, but you need company," Emmett said, and that was that. He rarely tried enforcing anything upon Bella, so the fact that he was so adamant about this made Bella simply sigh and nod, agreeing that company was what was best for her.

"We're _really_ sorry," Rose emphasized, and Bella appreciated how genuine the woman sounded. "I wanted to be here for you but, well, I left my replacement."

Bella cracked a smile.

"Edgar turned out to be a pretty ok comforter. I'm sure he'll do a good job of taking care of me." Bella acknowledged, then heard a scoff coming from the couch. She turned to Edward, raising an eyebrow as if daring him to say something else.

" _Pretty ok_? I nailed it, don't kid yourself. I should've been a psychologist, except for the part where I love my job." Edward threw an eye roll over his shoulder, and absently, Bella thought of how this man was thirty years old and acted like... this.

Truth be told, as a kid Bella thought being an adult meant you talked about important shit and sort of spoke in parables or something. Instead, being now an almost-adult herself, she could see that adults just liked pretending they had their shit together. They were just as clueless and childish as the rest.

"Yes, you're amazing, Edward," Bella said in monotone, making the happy couple laugh in relief. They were glad that Bella didn't look like her shell-shocked self from the night of the breakup. That had been a moment that had scarred Emmett permanently —the helplessness he felt when he didn't know what to do to save his little sister. He'd wished fervently then that he would've studied psychology or _something_ that would've allowed him to be there for her. It was why he would be forever indebted to Cullen; he'd known what to do to help Rie, probably because of how he had to interact with so many people in different states of mind. More than that, Emmett had seen that Edward had genuinely cared about the mental state of the girl, and despite how it would've been perfect material to use as points in his favor, Cullen had continued treating him the same as always. As if he alone hadn't made sure his sister's world didn't crumble.

Yeah, Emmett had been forced to acknowledge that Cullen was a good guy.

 _Not good for my Rosie, though._

"You don't sound convinced, but I know the truth," Edward shrugged, turning back to the TV. "You should tell your friends about how cool I am. Send them my way if they've got a broken heart."

Bella cracked a smile.

"Are you trying to pick up girls with therapy sessions? That you came up with because of _my_ misery?"

"Yes."

"You're an ass." Bella deadpanned, turning to her brother and his girlfriend. "He's an ass."

They nodded in agreement.

"He's still learning about humility," Rose conceded. "Obviously, a quick study he is not."

Edward chucked back one sandal, trying to hit Rose, but it hit Bella square on her nose.

"Fuck! My nose!" Bella screeched, holding a hand to the offended appendage; she felt something warm, and when she pulled her hand back to look, it was blood. "You made my nose bleed!" Bella cried, and the movement meant she accidentally pulled her head back, which meant she swallowed down some of her blood. It was disgusting, and she blamed it all on Cullen.

"Shit," Rose was beside her instantly, letting her boyfriend go threaten her best friend while she attended the girl. She checked the bridge of her nose (it was a _tiny_ , tiny nose), checking to see it hadn't somehow broken. She'd seen people break their noses for less.

And the sandal _was_ pretty big, seeing as they had to fit Edward's hobbit feet.

"Your dress," Bella gurgled, not knowing what to do to ease the bleeding. It wasn't bad, but it was enough to make her want to puke blood.

"Oh, _please_. This is way more important," Rose snapped, moving around the kitchen so she could find the first aid kit, which had gauze. Hands moving quickly, she prepared something to tampon the girl's nostrils, not knowing how much she'd just endeared herself to the teenager.

 _Em, you better not screw this up._

"I'm gonna kill you dead," she heard her brother saying, then tuned him out.

"Hey, Rose?" Bella whispered as the young doctor made sure to block the epistaxis nicely.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Rose returned, surprising herself. Up until a few months ago she was still deathly scared of Bella, thinking she was gonna shove Emmett and Vicky together any second. Somehow, at some point, she'd started genuinely caring for the troublemaker.

"Thank you for worrying." Bella mumbled, suddenly shy. It wasn't like her to make big declarations of feelings, and this wasn't exactly one, but she felt that Rose deserved to know she was appreciative.

Swallowing down tears, Rose gave Bella a fierce hug.

"Of course." She ruffled her hair lightly, then pulled back. The warrior returned.

"Emmett Swan, get your ass over here. We've got to leave _now_ or we're gonna be late for your thing."

"Yes ma'am." Em released the headlock he had Edward in, throwing a glare over his shoulder. "This is not over yet."

In a flurry, Emmett and Rose left, leaving behind the girl with a bleeding nose and the guy who caused it.

"Um, sorry?" Edward finally apologized sheepishly, approaching her from the spot he'd been in. "I mean, I never could've guessed it'd land on your nose."

Bella glared.

"You're paying for takeout pizza."

Edward rolled his eyes good-humoredly.

"Oh please, you would've made me pay for it either way." True. "Come on, let me look at your nose," he said, already next to her and raising his hands.

"But Rose checked already," she whined, flinching when he touched her nose.

"And I'm double checking." He muttered, concentrating. After a few seconds (that consisted of Bella looking like she had a seizure because she kept looking everywhere but at Edward) he released her with a deep sigh.

"It doesn't look broken. If it keeps hurting, you should take some ibuprofen."

"Yes, Doctor." Bella saluted.

"Smartass," he mumbled, going over to the fridge where the magnet with Domino's number was. "What do you want on your pizza?"

"Pepperoni." She replied immediately. "And don't you dare add pineapple."

He rolled his eyes again.

"I like that pizza, although I usually have vegetarian. I don't suppose—"

"No."

"Pepperoni it is then."

After the order was placed, he was gonna say something when he noticed that Bella wasn't in the kitchen area, and had instead disappeared. Confused, he checked the living room, but she wasn't in the couch. He checked the guest's bedroom, but found it empty, too. Giving it a last shot, he checked Emmett's bedroom (why did he never guess the bathroom? She could've been pooping or something), and he found her there, bawling her eyes out.

He was hit with the 'oh shit' moment where he had no clue what to do.

Stay? Leave? Console her? Pretend nothing had happened? Escape until the pizza arrived and cheer her up with that?

 _Oh, fuck me and my soft heart._

He shut the door behind him and walked slowly to the bed, where she was curled up in a ball, dry-heaving.

"Bella?"

She just cried harder.

Carefully, not wanting to be abrupt ( _she's not a fucking dragon, Cullen_ ), he sat down on the side of the bed she was curled on. He brushed her hair back, his heart breaking at how sad she was.

"Bell?"

In a move that shocked him, Bella suddenly sat up and crawled into his lap, burying her face in his neck and continuing to cry.

So for the next two minutes or so, Edward was paralyzed. His hands were stretched out and he was as stiff as a man could get (dirty jokes would have to wait), looking like a plastic doll. When her cries didn't subside, he finally put his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

Sometimes, all you want is a hug.

"I'm not ok at all," Bella cried, locking her ankles behind Edward's back. "I want Jasper back!"

All Edward did was rub her back.

When half an hour passed, and she still wasn't letting go, he tried prying her off to go get the pizza. The doorbell had made her quiet down for a moment, but she was still wiping snot off on his neck and then renewing her cries.

"Bell, I've gotta go get the pizza." Edward tried convincing her, but Bella was a stubborn little thing. She wasn't letting go. Sighing, he relented, getting up with her clinging onto him. He grabbed a forty, waddled to the front door and opened, where a scared teenage boy was watching a girl cry her lungs out.

"Sorry about that. Keep the change," Edward told him, grabbing the two pizzas. The delivery boy pointed at Bella.

"Is she ok? Do you need me to call for help?" He asked, half worried that the cause of her worries was the tall, dark and handsome guy.

"She's just sad. The pizza will help. Thanks, though. Have a nice day." Edward pressed the forty into the boy's hands and shut the door.

"Here, B. Want to eat something?"

She nodded. She was sad, not out of her goddamn mind. She was _always_ hungry.

Finally, after a bit more coercing ("No, Bella, you've got to get down or you'll spill all over my back"), Bella let herself be put down on the couch. Edward brought out napkins and the pizza boxes (he'd eaten with her before and he knew she'd go for one pizza for her and even some of his if given half the chance), then plopped down beside her.

Hiccuping, she swallowed down the first slice.

"You better now?" Edward asked gently, biting into his own slice of pizza. Bella nodded, sniffling.

"Sorry about that," she said, blowing her nose on a napkin.

"What brought that on? One second you were fine, and then the next you were gone."

Going for her second slice, Bella explained.

"Jasper never asked what I wanted on my pizza," she said in a soft voice. "I know it sounds stupid, but when you asked, I realized that Jasper was really not my boyfriend anymore. I don't think I can even keep him as a friend, really, because I don't feel like I could move on if I see him every day. Somehow, Jazz always knew what kind of food I wouldn't like and which I would. I mean, he probably saw me pick off enough food to know what I liked and what I didn't, but it was sweet of him to pay attention. He didn't _try_ to understand... he just did."

And now he felt like a bad friend.

 _Do I really need to know without asking?_

"It was _so_ annoying," Bella whimpered, surprising Edward. "I wanted to have a choice in the matter, but he always asked for stuff _he_ liked, even if he made sure I wouldn't _dis_ like it. I wanted to choose for once, but he never let me."

Edward was undoubtedly confused.

"So... you miss being annoyed?" Edward questioned, and the teenager nodded.

"Most of our fights were silly and ongoing. Like, the eternal question of who should pay for KFC. I always insisted he did, but he always argued back that I ate three fourths of the meal so I should. We'd end up either paying half and half or he'd pay for me when I'd bullied him enough. It was dumb... but it mattered to me. I hadn't realized how much."

 _She's seriously a glutton. I wonder how much of her finances go to food?_

Seriously, he could see how she managed to reach type I obesity.

It also spoke of how much she took care of herself now, if she hadn't regained the weight.

"You're still friends," Edward pointed out. "Even if it'll take a while for you to be able to hang around him, you will. You'll be friends again."

Her lip quivered.

"Jasper's the only man I've ever loved. He loved me when I was only just starting to love myself, and he loved me even when I was being childish and unfair. He listened to me... he was my _best_ friend." She turned her teary eyes towards him. "How do I stop loving someone who once felt like a part of me? It's like -like I have a phantom limb, you know? I keep moving an arm, only to find it isn't there. Only it's my heart, and what's not there is _him_."

She finished up the third slice of pizza.

Edward watched her eat, brow furrowed, heart shriveled. Maybe he'd spent too long pining after Rosalie Hale, and now he'd forgotten the heartbreak that came with having a relationship not work out. It had been too long since he'd cared about his love being unanswered, and it was at that moment that Edward realized he hadn't _wanted_ a relationship with Rose since he met Isabella Swan, because if he pursued the woman, it would mean he'd stop having a friendship with Bella. He didn't know when exactly this change came about, but he knew it had happened sometime since last September, when he had come to Rose's apartment after a long shift and had met the younger Swan. It wasn't love at first sight; hell, it wasn't even _like_ at first sight, but somewhere along the way, Bella had slid into Edward's all too willing heart. He'd needed love for so long, and some part of him had guessed — _hoped_ — it would be Bella who would give it to him.

As he put an arm around the sad girl, Edward finally, after all these years, realized what he had to do.

* * *

 **Phew, this was a charged chapter. So, I've finally broke them up. Was it too sudden? Sorry if it was. I was sort of running dry of ideas regarding Jasper and Bella (something about them not being the main couple and stuff), and I figured maybe all of you wanted to get on with the main show. Any guesses as to what comes next? I have one seriously good one, but then again, I also know what happens in the next three chapters (cue evil laughter). Merry Christmas people! (Or happy holidays, in case Christmas isn't your thing)**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. D'you see how I managed to post? I didn't think I'd be able to, but I did. Now leave me some love!**

 **P. P. S. You guys are still my best reviewers in my seven years of history in FFN. Y'all are the best Christmas gift an author could ask for. :')**

 **P. P. P. S. I'm thinking of making this fic fifteen chapters long. Might be much more, might be a little less. It all depends on how much I can write during vacations. Once I go back to classes I'll probably only be good for the first month or so, and then I'll be reconsidering switching careers way too often for me to have time to think up new chapters. Hopefully y'all think this is a good length. I don't want this to be an endless story, and I also don't want to leave you hanging. Fingers crossed I won't fuck this up.**


	6. Injuries of the Body and Soul

**Thank you all for reading, despite the false start from the summary. I know it was weird. Maybe I'll come up with something better. Maybe I'll eat a whole cake just because, I dunno. So many possibilities in life. :P In advance, I also apologize for the angst-y chapter. I only just realized lol. I promise it's the last one. That I've done.**

 **DISCLAIMER: EDGAR COLLINS IS MINE. EDWARD CULLEN ISN'T.**

* * *

"How is she?" Rose and Emmett asked as soon as they arrived home from the dinner. They looked tired, and they'd been sending tons of text messages to Edward throughout the night, inquiring on Bella's mental health. At about nine she'd finally clocked out on the couch, curled into a small ball that tugged at Edward's heartstrings.

"Heartbroken," Edward answered simply; was there any other answer?

The couple sighed sadly. They'd expected this answer, but had wanted another.

"Where is she?" Em asked, looking around. "The guest bedroom?"

Edward nodded; he'd moved the girl as soon as she'd started snoring. They weren't cute snores, either; the first time he'd heard them he'd thought the apartment was caving in, only to be informed that was just Bella.

Freaky stuff, man.

He wondered why Emmett hadn't had her checked out, worrywart that he was.

"Thanks for taking care of her dude," Emmett nodded to him, but Edward blew off the thanks. He really didn't need to be thanked for doing something he offered to do. Something, more importantly, that he felt he ought to do.

"Rose, can I talk to you outside? I need to talk to you," Edward asked, and Rose gave him a strange look that asked him not to. Em just nodded and stepped aside, telling Rose he was gonna hit the sack. He also knew what was about to happen, and he didn't want to stick around. He knew already how the conversation would go, which was a real testament to his feelings in Rosalie.

"Sure." Rose mumbled, letting herself be led outside by her best friend. She didn't even bother taking off her dress or switching shoes, somehow thinking that this was something that deserved to be attended to as quickly as possible.

The two doctors walked to the elevator and went up to the roof. They'd always liked going up to think, even as kids. Rose's house had a roof garden, so the two children had gone up to stare at the stars to talk about anything and everything.

 _"What do you want to be when you grow up, Rosie?"_

 _"I want to be a doctor. Like my mom. What do you want to be?"_

 _"Your best friend."_

 _"Don't be so corny. Tell me the truth. What do you want to be?"_

 _"Maybe a pilot. I feel like traveling the world." The eight year old had looked up at a particularly bright star, which he'd later learn was a planet. "Maybe I'll be an astronaut and watch over you."_

 _"Don't be stupid. You're claustrophobic."_

"What's up?" Rose asked, reaching down to lay on her back, dress be damned. Edward lied down next to her, uncaring for his own clothes.

"You know what's up," he replied easily, their shoulders touching.

"I do," Rose replied tiredly. "I suppose this _has_ to be done today?"

"Yeah," Edward said, turning so he was seeing her profile instead of the stars. "Rose."

She turned to look at him.

"Edward."

He took a moment, breathing in and out deeply. No use rushing. After all, hadn't he waited fifteen years for this moment?

She let him take his time.

This was it.

"I fell in love with you when I was fifteen years old, Rosalie Hale. I wasn't sure if I'd reach a six-foot height back then, or what I wanted to be, or if I'd finally finish growing a beard, but already I knew I was deeply in love with my best friend."

Silence.

Edward hadn't known what a weight it would take off his shoulders to say it, and Rose hadn't known how oppressed her heart would be upon hearing it. The declaration was deep, genuine and melancholic. Fifteen years worth of love were conveyed in those two sentences, and somehow, it fell short.

"Edward…" She was about to reply, but he shook his head, telling her he wasn't done. She shut up; she knew this was his chance to finally say what he felt.

"I remember we'd gone to the lake, and I realized that you weren't only a girl, but you were a _pretty_ girl. I'd already known you were stubborn, kind, self-giving, smart, thickheaded and filled with hopes about your future. You were always meant to be something great, Rose. And you are. You've already done such great things with your life, and you deserve it all. I hope you know I've always admired how happy you are."

There was so much Rosalie wanted to say, but first she had to let him say his piece.

"After that, I spent a lot of time asking myself how to be the man you needed. I got in the football team, shot up to almost six foot four, raised my grades. I wanted you to see me… but you never did." He gave her a rueful smile, holding her eyes. "I know you've been worried for twelve years now that I went into medicine for you, but I didn't. Maybe you made picking this career easier, but _this_ is what I was meant to be. I was meant to help people for a living. I just didn't always know it."

He took a moment, closing his eyes and facing back towards the stars.

"When I went through rehab, I forgot all about you. I'm sorry about that, but it's true. When you went away, I missed you a lot, but I didn't cry or think about chasing after you. Not like Swan, who visited you every time he'd saved barely enough money to visit you. I think that after rehab, I realized I didn't love you desperately. Not like you deserve to be loved; not like Swan loves you. I wanted to spare you from my problems back then, but…"

He thought of Jasper pushing away Bella.

"But maybe if I'd loved you enough, I would've wanted to rely on you. To have you hold my hand every time I was raging about my sister, or my parents, or school. I didn't though, and recently, I wonder about it all." He opened his eyes. "I loved you with everything I was, but I'm beginning to think I'm only just starting to be who I want to be."

Rose was fighting not to cry with all her might. As a doctor, this was an art she'd mastered.

So she didn't cry.

"I hated you a lot sometimes, too. I know that maybe one of those times I passed out drunk I might've told you I loved you, and if not, I know that because I'm an open book you've known all along. I know... I know having someone love you is a heavy burden, and I know you pretended not to know for my sake, so I could tell you on my own. Thank you, even if I hated you a lot because of it, too."

He closed his eyes again.

"I'm ready to hear your reply now."

Rose swallowed past the lump in her throat, needing for their sake to give him the answer he deserved.

It was finally time for her, too.

"I think it was a month before you went to rehab that you declared you loved me. You were kneeling beside a toilet, and you just looked so _rotten_... I knew you weren't lying, but I also didn't know how to reply. It's another reason why I didn't try contacting you while you were in rehab; I thought maybe the time away would make you forget me. I thought the time away would... help me forgive you." She whispered.

It hurt to say this, but it had hurt more not to for nearly ten years.

"I resented you _so_ much, Edward. I thought you were ruining our easygoing friendship, and I thought you didn't know what you were talking about. I wanted to ignore your feelings. I thought if we didn't talk about it, it didn't exist. If I closed my eyes, it wouldn't be there. If I didn't hear it again, it wasn't true. Many times I talked about this with Kate; she thought I was being unfair, rubbing Em in your face and not telling you outright I didn't see you that way."

Kate was a friend she'd made in college.

"I thought she didn't understand. What she said was true, if I'd met Emmett when we were in high school, for instance. You changed a lot after rehab. You might not believe me, but I've known how your feelings for me diminished. I _saw_ it."

She licked her lips.

"It was _such_ a burden," she whispered. "I knew you didn't love me as much anymore, but _you_ didn't know, so I had to keep treating you as if you really were desperately in love with me. Then I met Em, and I— I'm sorry, Edward, I couldn't keep sparing your feelings. The moment I met him I knew I needed him to be complete. I've been waiting for two years for you to finally understand, too, how your love for me changed." She swallowed hard. "I... I was also being cowardly, and I'm sorry for that. I thought if I said anything, our friendship would change. I figured if you didn't want to talk about it, you didn't need me to say it, either. Maybe I should've said something sooner."

Edward shook his head.

"No you shouldn't have. I wasn't ready. I _am_ now."

She asked the inevitable question.

"Why now?"

He never could keep anything from her.

"I want Bella. I can't want her and keep telling myself I want you. I had to let go of my feelings for one of you... and I chose you. You're still my best friend in the world, Rose. It's just that the woman I want to love isn't you anymore."

Her lip quivered. It felt like the end of an era.

"You think Em will let you go after his sister?"

She felt him shrug.

"The only thing that matters is making Bella want me, too. She'll be hurt over Jasper for a long time, but I'm placing all my bets on her giving me a chance. I can make her happy. Isn't that all that matters?"

Rose smiled to herself.

"Yeah, Edgar."

That night, after Edward went home and Rose had gone back to the apartment, she slid off her heels and slipped in next to Em, who was still awake. She didn't feel like changing.

"The talk go alright?" Emmett asked gruffly, having been about to doze off.

Rose wailed in response.

* * *

"Where's Edgar?"

Rose jumped, turning to look at the sleepy girl. She came out of the guest bedroom in Power Puff Girl pants and a SpongeBob shirt, horribly mismatched. Had Edward done that?

"He went back yesterday. He's got an early shift today." Rose answered, turning back to frying the bacon. "Emmett already went in to work. I've got the day off, so I can drop you off at home."

Bella thanked her, going to the kitchen island to wait for Rose to finish cooking.

"Why are _your_ eyes all puffy? Did something happen at the dinner?"

Damn her and her 20/10 sight.

"Oh, everything's fine. We had a blast. I just..." Rose wondered how much she should divulge. _Fuck it man, Edward will forgive me when they're married with beautiful, sarcastic children._ "I just had a long talk with Edward yesterday. It was hard."

Bella's eyebrows shot up, completely surprised.

 _I'll be damned._

"What about?"

Rose licked her lips.

"You made Edward think a lot yesterday. I think seeing how much you love Jasper made him question his feelings for me. We aired out our dirty laundry."

 _Well, call me Dorothy and fuck me sideways._

"He did?" She thought back to her telling Edward to let go of Rose. "That might be my fault."

She felt so guilty, especially when the older woman turned to give her a questioning glance.

"Why would it be your fault?"

She pursed her lips.

"I told him some months ago he should let you go. I never thought he'd actually tell you about his feelings." Bella explained, feeling guilty. "It was none of my business, I'm sorry."

Rose's stare softened.

"Oh, honey, you had nothing to do with his decision." Big fat lie, Rosalie. "It was something he needed to say." Better.

"Did you hash it out?" Bella asked in a small voice. She liked making others uncomfortable, but not like this. Not confused or sad.

"We did," Rose smiled gently. "We've known each other for too long not to."

Oh.

"Edward tells me you might've spooked the pizza guy yesterday," Rose commented casually. "We're lucky the guy didn't call an ambulance."

Bella smiled to herself, remembering the freaked out look the poor boy had.

"Yeah. But I think Edward handled it all really well. He's sort of amazing."

Rose snorted.

"Sort of? He's the best guy I've ever known. You can't even count on two hands _twice_ the amount of girls that I've seen proposition Edward in the last month. And most of them are the moms of the little patients he treats," they both laughed at Edward's expense; in the hospital, Edward sneezed. "He's meant for a girl much better than me."

Bella gave Rose an encouraging smile.

"You're pretty great, Rose. Truly." She sniffed. "Although I think the bacon's about to burn any second now."

"Fuck." Rose cursed, turning back to the stove and turning off the gas. "An attentive cook, I am not."

Bella shrugged.

"At least you cook. I've seen Edward attempt to make popcorn, and he always puts them in like three minutes too many." Bella smiled to herself, thinking back on a Tuesday night two months ago when she had a movie night with Edward as they waited for Emmett and Rose to come home. They'd watched _Princess Mononoke_ (her suggestion) and _Spirited Away_ (his demand), the latter one she only really watched half of because she was too busy hiding underneath the blankets. A coward Bella was. She's been scared of it for as long as she could remember, and though she told Edgar, he hadn't really believed her. It took her jumping in fright twice and crying once for him to shut off the movie. She wasn't the type of girl that used scary movies to hide in handsome men's shoulders; she was the kind to close all windows and open all doors and turn on all the lights to ward off evil spirits. Ridiculous? Maybe. Necessary for her mental health? Oh yeah.

"Do you cook? I've never seen you do it, but I've always wondered." Rose commented, pouring the bacon on a big plate that had a paper towel ready to start absorbing the fat.

Bella gave her a funny look.

"Didn't you try the strudel I made on Christmas? Emmett told me you liked it."

Rose's mouth fell open.

"That big idiot! He never told me you made it! Emmett polished it off before I could get home from a shift, but I know Edward managed to get a slice for himself. I'd asked him to swing by the apartment for some papers, and he found Em mid-bite and stole some. Then your brother swore up and down he'd tell you _mother_ how good it was." Rose shook her head, exasperated.

Bella laughed, picturing the duo perfectly.

"I'll make some again just for you. Humbleness aside, I'm a great cook. I don't do it much though because I hate washing the dishes." She grabbed a piece of bacon. "But keep it a secret from Emmett, or I'll have to make a double batch."

She chuckled, pouring scrambled eggs on Bella's plate as well.

"You and your brother have the definition of a love-hate relationship," Rose noted, something Bella couldn't deny.

"We love each other fiercely though," Bella mumbled, shoving food into her mouth already. "Even if he can be a dick."

Rose tried not to laugh _too_ much.

"What're your plans for today?"

"School. I get in at noon, and get out at four. I'll probably swing by the gym though; I've been eating too much this weekend."

Rose lit up with a brilliant idea.

"Oh! Why don't you accompany Edward? He's also going to the gym today, and I need someone to check he's actually going. He's been getting real lazy lately, and he's starting to get a love handle."

 _If Edward Cullen has a love handle, I have a loaf._

"Sure," Bella agreed easily enough. "Although I'm not sure we go to the same gym."

Ok, that might be an issue.

"Which gym do you go to?"

"The YMCA by my college."

Instantly, Rose lit up again.

"Oh! That's also the one Edward goes to, because it's also near the hospital. He usually goes in the morning, but he slept in today." Something about the whole 'take care of the hurting girl then confess to your best friend' had taken a toll on him. Again, somewhere in the hospital, Edward sneezed. "Can you pick him up at the hospital after your last class? He took an Uber, and he always leaves his gym bag in the hospital's lockers. I'll tell him."

Something occurred to Bella.

"Won't it be awkward for you, seeing him today?"

Rose sat down in front of Bella to eat. Shuffling around the scrambled eggs, she then poured herself some orange juice before answering.

"We met in kindergarten. We went to the same elementary, secondary and high school. We got into the same college, and even the same med school, though he got in later. We work in the same hospital." Rose swallowed down half a glass of juice. "We've been together for so long, I can't ever imagine avoiding him or feeling awkward with him. We've seen each other at our worst and at our best; yesterday was just about him finally saying in words what his actions have always shown."

Still, there was something Bella couldn't understand.

"But... How come you didn't outright reject him years ago? Don't you think you could've spared him a lot of heartache? Spared him from having to see you and Em while having feelings for you?" Bella asked, and her voice had been dangerously close to reaching insolent levels. But she was just so weirdly protective of Edward; maybe it had to do with the fact that he'd been so amazing with her pretty much since they met. She wished she could've saved the man from heartbreak.

Rose swallowed down some bacon before answering.

"It wasn't my place to bring it up. I would've been pushing him. Maybe for some guys that could've been the answer, but with Edward... he's someone who doesn't like being pushed with his feelings. I knew he'd tell me in time, and he did. I wish he'd done it years ago, but he didn't. He hadn't had the right incentive. As for seeing me with Em... I tried my best to not rub it in his face. However, after a while, I realized something. _I_ also deserved to be happy. I'd been sparing Edward's feelings for nearly seven years that I'd been aware of, and I love your brother _so_ much, Bella. I had a choice: Edward's comfort or your brother's feelings. Edward would've been hurt no matter what I did. Your brother would've grown to resent my best friend, and I wanted them to get along, despite everything. I decided I loved Emmett enough to make my best friend my second priority —but he never stopped being one." Rose sighed, done with her breakfast. It sort of amazed Bella; she hadn't seen Rose eat. "So yeah. On one hand I felt it wasn't my place to bring it up. On the other hand, obvious as Edward was, to have closure I knew he'd need to verbalize his feelings by himself."

The young girl processed the doctor's words.

She got hung up on a specific thing.

"So which was the incentive?"

Rose shoved more bacon in her mouth, then asked the young girl to repeat herself.

"What incentive? You said he hadn't said anything because he hadn't had the right incentive; obviously, now he does. Which is it?"

 _You and your big mouth, Rosalie. It's definitely too early for that._

"Um, I think that's something you'd have to ask Edward." She coughed, dabbing at her lips with a napkin.

Bella quirked up an eyebrow.

"Why are you so elusive? Is it a secret?"

Dozens of scenarios flittered by Bella's mind.

Rose tried to brush it off, but she wasn't as subtle as she thought she was. After a few minutes of awkward excuses, none of which Bella bought, Rose's phone rang.

Staggering with relief, she answered. It was Emmett.

"Hi baby."

"Hi Em," Rose grinned, blushing a bit at the generic pet name. She couldn't help it; she still found it cute.

"Is my sister up?"

"Yeah," Rose answered, nodding easily at the teen when she motioned that she was going to go get changed. Once she was turned, Rose rolled her eyes; this girl clearly wanted to escape doing the dishes.

"How is she?"

"She looks well," Rose said, thinking that despite the groggy voice and puffy eyes, Bella seemed to be fairing better than Edward had implied. "Although I noticed she hasn't mentioned Jasper once. I guess she'll only speak about him to Edward."

"How are _you_?"

Rose smiled to herself, thankful he'd remembered to ask amidst his worry for his little sister.

"As good as I can be. I'm sad I hurt Edward so much for so long. I'm also glad he's finally let it out. Mostly, I'm nervous about how it'll be between us from now on."

"Well, haven't you been friends for long enough to figure it out naturally?"

"Yeah, but it's just different this time, you know? There was a time period during which we didn't speak at all, and when we finally did, it took some adjusting. We'd become different people. I just... I'm scared we won't adjust twice."

"Both of you care too much about your friendship to let it flush down the drain. You'll adjust. I promise." Emmett's confidence overwhelmed Rose for a moment, and she let out a shaky breath. _Don't cry._

"Thank you," Rose whispered, then heard a toilet flush. "Emmett Swan, were you listening to my woes while _pooping_?"

"Hey! It's the only place where I could be assured some privacy." Em defended himself. "I also really needed to—"

"Spare me the details," Rose growled, and laughing, they resumed easy conversation.

Rose didn't know that Bella could hear everything from the guest's room.

 _You're such a liar, Rose. You said you weren't worried about your friendship with Edward._

Bella wiped some tears that had leaked; this was a valuable woman. She had told Bella what was her business to know, and had been honest with her brother about her worries. She'd told a white lie (really, a half truth), and because of it, Bella somehow knew that Rose wasn't capable of being two-faced like May. May wouldn't have been able to spare her feelings in such a way without outright lying. It brought her full acceptance of Rosalie Hale, as well as peace with her brother's breakup. Everything happened for a reason, and in this case, Bella really hopped the reason was that Emmett was meant to find his soul mate in Rose.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Excuse me, can I borrow Dr. Cullen for a moment?" Rose asked with an apologetic smile, tearing away her best friend from a nurse. Nurse Cheney nodded, and after casting one last fluttering glance at her favorite doctor, went to check on a patient.

"Hey," Edward smiled, standing tall as ever next to his friend. They were both tall people, and to people outside, they might've looked like the perfect couple. Too perfect. "What's up?"

Rose returned his smile, relief pulsing through her. He wasn't avoiding her.

"Oh, I just..." she bit her lip, looking everywhere in a very non-subtle way that threatened to dizzy Edward.

"Out with it, woman."

Alright.

"I sort of pimped you out." Rose flinched at the immediate scowl that overtook her friend's handsome face.

"What do you mean?"

Alright.

"You've got a gym date with Bella today." She blurted out, and the scowl became a look of surprise.

"What?"

Time to elaborate.

"I mean, it's not quite a date." Scowl. "She's picking you up at four thirty." Deeper scowl. "But I roped her into spotting you at the gym today, sort of. And she'll pick you up and drop you off." That scowl really wasn't letting up. "So I figured you could... start charming her pants off now." She finished in a mumble, looking everywhere but at Edward and pursing her lips.

"And I'm supposed to make her see me as a potential candidate while we're both sweating and tired?"

"You look really good when you're sweating." Rose pointed out, making Edward's lip twitch in amusement. She really was trying to play matchmaker the day after he told her he'd loved her for almost two decades.

He wasn't really annoyed by that.

"I doubt she'll feel the same. I distinctly remember her saying that exercise brought out the worst in her." He pointed out, thinking back to the one time he'd suggested going to the gym together. This was after the holiday season, when both had gained about six pounds each and needed to burn them off. Bella had almost bit his head off at the suggestion of exercise with him; two days later, when she'd calmed down, she'd explained that she didn't want to be reminded of how much her physical condition sucked, which would be visible with him next to her.

He hadn't thought to tell her he'd just be far away from her, then.

"No it doesn't," Rose rolled her eyes. "Em told me Bella's just competitive, and whatever you do she'll attempt to do, too, which isn't all that wise if you're doing weights or running too fast for her."

That was another very likely explanation.

"Also..."

He didn't like how small her voice was getting. Crossing his arms over his chest, Edgar waited, looking way too imposing. For a moment, Rose overlapped the man in front of her with the little six year old that ate his own boogers, and she wanted very badly to snort, but held herself back. Not the time.

"What is it, Rosalie?"

She gave him her best smile.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Rose."

"I told her about yesterday, alright?" Rose sighed, squeezing her eyes shut.

"What?"

"I mean, she asked me where you were, and then she asked me why my eyes were all puffy, and I didn't know how to lie to her, ok? So I told her you and I aired out our dirty laundry and that everything's fine between us now." She spoke quickly, eyes still slammed shut, wanting the verbal lashing to be over already.

Silence.

More silence.

Still absolute silence.

After almost two minutes (she counted) had gone by and still no answer, Rose unscrewed one eye open, only to find Edward to be giving her the most scathing glare he'd ever given her.

"Did you tell her _why_ I finally told you?"

She gulped.

"I didn't. I just told her that something changed for you, and that's it. I figured the rest was up to you." When his glare only lessened minimally, Rose hurried to defend herself. "Look, someone needed to tell her, alright? And if she still thinks you like me, then she'll never let herself feel more for you. She won't go for an unrequited love when she needs to feel love again, alright? And you're kidding yourself if you think you would've told her in the foreseeable future. I just... gave you a push, ok?" Rose looked down at her shoes, mumbling again. "Sorry."

To yell or not to yell?

On one hand, Edward knew his best friend only had his best interests in mind. On the other hand, it wasn't her place to say. Worse yet, what if Bella asked him why he'd finally come clean, he couldn't tell her it was because he was interested in her. Not yet. It would be too much for her to handle, and he didn't want to overwhelm her.

Finally, after deliberating for a few more seconds, he relaxed his stance. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and let himself loosen up.

"Fine. What's done is done. But I'll stitch your mouth closed if you tell her anything more about that." He glared, and for a moment, Rose wondered if he was serious. He didn't seem to be joking, but... _He wouldn't_ really _stitch my lips shut, would he?_

She decided to be safe and agreed. She was going to say something else but was cut off by the loudspeakers that were paging Dr. Hale. Grinning sheepishly, Rose waved goodbye and hurried off.

Edward got a text, which he checked as he walked to meet one of his patients. It was from Bella.

 _I'll pick u up at 4:30 by the ER exit. Don't be late._

"Dr. Cullen! Careful with the—"

 _Bam!_

"Wall."

-.-.-.-.-.-

"What happened to you?" Bella gaped, not even trying to hold back her laughter. Edward had appeared at 4:30 pm sharp in the ER's exit, gym bag in hand with a giant red bump on his forehead. She was going to just pick him up and keep going, but had been forced to stop to admire the handiwork of the wall.

"Would you believe me if I said—"

"No. Tell me the truth."

He sulked.

"I ran into a wall."

After five minutes of watching Bella gasp for air, he finally asked her why it was so funny.

"Because that's karma for you!" She gasped out, referencing the shoe-on-nose incident. When she started spilling tears and wheezing, Edward finally allowed himself to laugh along with her. Maybe then she'd stop.

No such luck.

Two minutes later, the two of them were trying to compose themselves enough to hit the road, but Bella's infectious laughter made it kind of impossible.

She really enjoyed his misery way too much.

"Ah," Bella let out the last of her laughter, wiping away her tears. "Thanks for that. It'd been a while since I laughed so hard."

Chuckling, Edgar shook his head.

"Anything to amuse you." He helped her back on the bike, which she'd fallen out of during minute one of incessant laughter.

"Good. I might keep you around longer, then." She threw him a wink, handed him a helmet and put hers on. "Hang on tight."

Scoffing, Edward held onto her for dear life. He'd let her give him a ride _twice_ , and those two times had threatened to shorten his life. The first time, when she'd given him a ride home, he'd fallen to his knees and thanked God he had luck on his side.

Bella hadn't been amused.

"I feel like you've got bigger balls than me." Edward mumbled, adjusting himself before takeoff.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"I've got something better. I've got _ovaries_."

Somehow, Edward felt like they spoke too much of Bella's reproductive system.

When they finally arrived at the gym, Bella entered confidently, while Edward walked in on shaky legs and trying his best to conceal his bumpy forehead. He needed the guy from the drinks shop to keep thinking he was hot so he could keep scoring free water.

God gave him a nice face for a reason. He figured it was a fair trade; the guy got to stare at his face past what was socially acceptable and he got free water.

"I saw that," Bella commented when she came out of the locker room, finding one young doctor approaching her with a cool water bottle in hand.

"Saw what?" He asked innocently.

"You, pimping out your face for a cheap water bottle." Bella sighed dramatically. "You should've aimed bigger. Gone for _two_ cheap water bottles."

Coulda woulda shoulda.

"I'll keep that in mind," Edward answered solemnly, unscrewing the water bottle's cap. Unbidden, Bella's eyes trailed the flexing muscle.

"Did he find your five-dimensional forehead hot?" Bella smirked.

"Five dimensional?"

"It was already 3D, so it wouldn't have made sense if I said that. I know it's not 5D either, but seeing as you've got extra dimension to your forehead, I figured it was appropriate," Bella explained, then sulked. "I can't believe you made me explain the joke to you."

Edward shrugged.

"I want to bring you down a notch with your teasing. You have way too much fun at my expense."

Bella couldn't deny that.

"But it's just so easy!" She whined. "You're always doing something that warrants my wicked quick wit. I wouldn't be helping anybody by neglecting my duties."

"You'd be helping my self-esteem." He pointed out, making the teenager scoff. They were by the treadmill, so Edward assumed they'd start there.

She scoffed.

"You didn't see yourself flirting out there. Nobody can touch that." True enough, he supposed. "Are you ready to start?"

He remembered then Rose talking about Bella's competitiveness.

"Actually, I'll start with the weights," Edward made a move to go to that side of the gym, but stopped when Bella started after him. "Weren't you gonna start with the treadmill?" He asked nervously.

Bella narrowed her eyes.

"Someone told you I was competitive, didn't they? Was it Rose? I bet it was Emmett, that ass." Bella grumbled furiously. " _One_ time I tried to outrun him, and he won't let it go. He tells everyone I'm competitive! I was nine and didn't know any better. Jesus Christ," Bella scoffed, glaring with all her might at the handsome man.

"Sorry," Edward grinned sheepishly.

She pouted.

"Go away. Leave me to my running."

"Sorry, Bella. I'll run with you, really."

But she wasn't having it anymore, and after threatening to chew him out, sent him away to do his weights.

"Everything ok over here?"

Bella kept running.

"Bella, everything ok?" The gym's trainer put his hand on her elbow, shocking her enough that she almost tripped over her feet. Thankfully, though, the trainer caught her before she could stumble more.

"Ow, Riley, what the hell? You don't scare people when they're running!" Bella scowled, ripping off her earphones.

Riley rolled his eyes.

"I didn't try to. If you didn't feel the need to deafen yourself with the loud volume of your music, you would've heard me the first time." He saw the speed at which she was going. "You normally go a bit faster. Everything alright?"

 _Great, even my trainer knows something's up with me._

"Yeah, I just ate too much this weekend, and the new fat's making it a little hard to burn the old one," Bella smiled, letting Riley know everything was fine.

He smiled, shaking his head amicably.

"You and your food. I can still remember when you came here, looking like a little panda," he teased, earning himself a slap on the shoulder. Laughing, he shook it off. "Oh, come on. We can laugh now, can't we?"

Bella glared.

"Only _I_ can laugh at my previous obesity. You can't, you asshole." She retorted, miffed. "Although I admit I might've resembled a panda a little bit."

Riley snorted.

"Please, you even had the bags under your eyes to complete the look."

True enough; back when she'd started coming to the gym, there had been many sleepless nights that consisted of her fighting with herself over the urge to eat… and finishing _one last_ manga chapter.

"You're very mean, did you know that?" Bella pouted. "I might switch you over for Larry," she warned, waving at the muscular man that was shouting at a poor, unfit pre-teen boy.

"Please, Larry doesn't know what to say to motivate you." Riley scoffed, adding a bit of speed to Bella's run.

"Oh yeah, how's Kate? I haven't seen her around here in a while."

Kate was Riley's magnificent girlfriend.

"Knocked up." He replied easily enough, amused when Bella just turned her head towards him, jaw wide open and eyes peeled back. "You look like a goldfish."

" _You knocked her up?_ "

"No, my brother did," Riley deadpanned, for a moment sounding so serious Bella questioned what he said. Then she remembered Riley was an only child.

"How long?" Bella asked, reducing the speed Riley had added on.

"Three months. It was a rough start, so the doctor said no exercise." He explained, adding again some more speed. She could handle it.

"How come you hadn't mentioned any of this?" Bella asked, a little wounded. They'd known each other for two years now, and she considered him a good friend.

"You've been coming at real irregular times lately, and when you do, I'm usually super busy with another member."

True enough.

"Well, congrats. You'll be a great dad," Bella said, and she meant it, too.

He smiled bashfully.

"Thanks. What's up with you? How's Whitlock?"

Bella did her best to not cry.

"We broke up." Riley's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Yeah, on Wednesday. Life sort of got in the way," she gave her trainer a pained smile. He patted her hand.

"You were too hot for him, anyways," Riley joked, startling Bella into letting out a loud, boisterous laugh that reminded her of her brother's.

It was loud enough Bella catch Edward's attention. He stopped focusing on the weights, and instead turned to see that Bella was chatting with one of the trainers. Leaving his things behind, Edward headed over to them, cleaning his neck sweat with a towel.

Riley saw him first.

"Cullen! Good to see you around here," Riley smiled, clapping the handsome man's shoulder before turning slightly so he was facing both of the gym members.

"Biers," Edward nodded back. "Are you hitting on Bella?"

Riley's eyebrows climbed up into his hairline.

"You two know each other?"

"Yeah, Bella's brother is Rose's boyfriend." Edward explained, and understanding illuminated the trainer's face.

"No way. _Really?_ " The duo nodded, and Riley chuckled. "I never would've guessed. I mean, I never thought Rose's Emmett was Bella's Emmett. Small world, huh?"

Bella looked between the two men.

"Rose trains here?"

Riley shook his head.

"Nah, but I've gone out for beers once or twice with the hotshot doctors. She also happens to be Kate's best friend from college." Riley checked his watch. "Shoot, I've gotta call her, or she'll come here to find me. It was great seeing you two. Swing by more often, ok?" Riley said the last part for Bella, who whistled and looked away.

"I'll drag her if I have to," Edward promised, chuckling at Bella's silliness.

Riley bid adieu with a bro hug to Edward, but leaned in close to say one more thing.

"You might want to be a bit more subtle about wanting to bang her dude," Riley whispered, and the sheer surprise and outrage over his words left Edward paralyzed as he watched the trainer dance away.

"Hey Edward," Bella heaved out, startling Edward back into reality. "Close your mouth, or a merry family of flies will colonize your mouth."

He shut his mouth.

"What did he say?" Bella asked, amused by the man's shock.

He was a trained liar.

"He, uh, said something lewd."

Not a good one though.

"Right," Bella rolled her eyes, disbelieving even though Edward's lie wasn't all that far fetched.

"You're mean to me," Edward pointed out once more, and this time Bella actually felt a tinge of guilt. He was right; he was always helping her up, and she often tried bringing him down. Her attitude towards him wasn't the nicest, and she really had to get a hang of it. Especially because, if she thought about it, she didn't want to drive him away. However, all these months something inside of her had urged her to be cautious and keep him at an arm's length.

 _Maybe I don't need to anymore._

The thought startled her enough to send her flying off the treadmill.

* * *

"My tummy," Bella moaned, lying on Edward's couch.

After the treadmill fiasco, Bella had to endure Edward laughing at her for some solid five minutes. At one point, he was laughing so hard that he fell on his back next to her, wheezing. Not amused, and still lying face down in front of the treadmill, she poked at the bump on his forehead, instantly making him howl in pain. After glaring at her for a while, he finally did the doctor-y thing and carried her to a nearby bench in the back so he could quickly check her out. The problem was her stomach that had already starting spotting some blood on her shirt, but when Edward made to lift her shirt, Bella had grabbed his wrist with incredible strength.

"No."

And he'd understood. Too many eyes, too self-conscious. Nodding, he'd helped gather her things and told her he'd drive them to his apartment. She only put up a fight for a little while, truthfully too worn out to drive back. She rather liked hugging Edward's back on the way to his apartment, thinking it was broad and strong without being massive. Jasper was always too skinny, something that both amused her and made her feel self-conscious. _Does he think I have too much flesh on me_? Bella had tried alluding to it once, but the glare Jasper had thrown her had been so intense she'd shut right up, promising him not to say it again. She had body issues; Jasper had them too about his thinness, though not being very vocal about them, she'd never given them much thought. Perhaps she should've.

There were many things she probably should've done.

Then again, shoulda coulda woulda.

"I know," Edward pulled her back to reality. "That's why I need you to lift your shirt. I need to check it out."

"No."

"Woman, do you see anyone here?" Bella gave him a pointed stare. "Besides me. I'm a doctor."

Like that justified everything.

"I think you just want to see my abs," Bella pointed out, flinching when she accidentally brushed a hand over her stomach. This just made Edward give her the 'told you so' face that adults were so good at dishing.

"You're hurt. I need to treat you; you could get infected and scar."

Bella looked away from his face.

"I've already got enough scars. A few more won't make a difference."

He flicked her forehead.

"Ow! What the fuck? I'm injured!" Bella held a hand to her forehead, scowling fiercely. Unfortunately, it didn't stick, because her lip started twitching. The bump was hilarious.

"Your forehead isn't connected to your stomach." Edward rolled his eyes, crouching so he sat on the low marble table. "Show me."

"No."

"Show me, or I'll find the video footage of you flying off the treadmill and show it at Rose and Emmett's future wedding," he threatened.

"You wouldn't."

"Wanna test me?" Edward narrowed his eyes. He himself wasn't sure he was bluffing (it would've been pretty hilarious to watch the scene again, now that he saw she hadn't sustained significant damage), and Bella must've seen that. Quietly, she lifted her shirt up to her sports bra. Not that she really needed it; she was a B cup, because God was unfair and despite the weight gain _none_ of it went to her boobs. However, she liked the bra. It was purple.

As Edward assessed the damage, Bella watched him.

"What?"

"You spoke of Rose and Emmett's wedding very naturally." She pointed out, breathing in and out deeply. "How's that going?"

He concentrated on the damage.

It wasn't that much, though he'd definitely need to disinfect it. What drew his attention was the stretch marks; she'd been right. There were a lot, and the difference in skin was obvious. It was shinier, more delicate. Lighter.

"Edgar?"

"Huh?" He looked up, meeting her eyes. She looked sad.

"They're hideous, aren't they?" She asked quietly. "They're evidence of my lack of self-control. I think that's what hurts the most; they remind me of what I let myself become."

Without replying, Edward stood up. He lifted his shirt.

There was about a dozen little scars below his ribs on his left side. One scar was particularly bad, running down about three inches.

Her eyes flickered up to meet his, but he was looking down at his scars.

Pointedly, Bella avoided drooling over his six-pack.

 _Girl, your priorities are all over the place._

"We all have scars. This one's my reminder of the time _I_ lacked self-control. I was drunk and high, and I fell on a broken bottle. The smaller scars are from the shards that were scattered; the bigger one is from a particularly large shard that got imbedded in there. I had to go to the ER; that's when my parents found out about my drinking problem." He pulled down his shirt. "You and I have physical scars that can be hidden by clothes. Some women endure daily physical abuse and their faces bear the marks; some people have lost limbs and they can see the gnarly scar from the amputation. Some people, like Rose, carry their scars in their heart. She was kidnapped in Africa during the first days of her stay, and she still refuses to talk about the experience. Like they say, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there." Edward sat down again, pulling on his lap the first aid kit. "Scars are important. They mean you survived."

Bella closed her eyes.

"They also mean you almost died." She wanted to say, but couldn't. It felt somehow wrong, and petulant. He was telling her not to be ashamed, but he wasn't telling her to love them. They _were_ a reminder of her mistakes.

"I always try," Bella replied, not opening her eyes as Edward started treating the wounds. "I see the marks, and then I see my body, and I try to tell myself they're just history. I'm different; better. Then I remember I still can't wear crop tops, because everyone will see my stretch marks. Then I tell myself to tell them to go fuck themselves if they stare, because that's _my_ skin and _my_ scars. It's a constant battle between wanting to feel good about myself and needing to criticize myself."

Edward chanced a look at her face, and he saw closed eyes as well as a relaxed face.

"You always act so confident," Edward noted. "I never would've guessed you had these kinds of thoughts."

Bella shrugged.

"I don't always think that way. Most days I feel great. Some days I want to hide. I'm always trying to diminish the bad days, and that's what counts, isn't it? To keep trying." Bella mumbled, flinching a bit at a particularly sore spot. "Every once in a while it's ok to feel bad for yourself, so long as you aren't making anyone miserable."

"You're making _yourself_ miserable."

"Yeah," Bella acknowledged. "I am."

Edward decided to say what was on his mind.

"The stretch marks don't make you less beautiful." He told her, completely honest. "I won't lie and tell you I can't see them. But I won't lie and tell you they tainted you, either."

He didn't look up to see her expression.

He should've; she was smiling as she looked at him, watery eyes grateful.

* * *

 **Love me. These are like 1000 extra words. Also, I know it hasn't been a week since my last update, but I just want to bring you all up to speed as quickly as I can (without posting everything at once). I've got like two more chapters done, but until I've finished or am like a chapter away from done I won't post it all (or else I'll run out of stuff to post until God knows when). Anyways. Hope you had some happy holidays, and that you have a very wonderful New Years!**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. As always, your reviews warm my heart. There was one that said I'd made their day better, which in turn made _my_ day that much happier. Hopefully, you're as giddy to read my story as I am to make it. :))**


	7. Stages of Grief

**I'm in a writing mood, and because I'll probably be done with chapter 9 soon, I thought it'd be incredibly nice of me to give y'all a late Christmas present in the form of this chapter and another before New Year's. . lol. Also, any of you noticed I changed the summary? I'll see how this one does, and depending on that I might leave this one or change it. One of you kindly suggested one, and I liked it, but I don't want to outright steal a summary. If she doesn't mind, I _could_ end up using it, though. **

**DISCLAIMER: Oh, just read.**

* * *

April whizzed into May, and then May melted into June, which in turn merged into July. Most of April consisted of Bella being depressed, interrupting said depression with texting Jasper excessively in an attempt to get him to reconsider. He didn't reply whenever she mentioned anything about that, and he barely replied whenever it was just her checking up on him. She couldn't see him that whole month, absolutely certain she'd break down in pain if she did. After April came denial; she was confident that eventually, Jasper would go back to her. That he'd see how much he needed her, especially _now_ , and how she was the only thing that would make things right. That didn't happen either, and the one time Bella mentioned this thought to Angela, she got flicked on the forehead so painfully she was _positive_ that Angela had used her fist. Midway through May she realized that Jasper Whitlock wasn't coming back, and he wasn't going to ask her for help, either —and that's when she got angry.

 _"Stop texting and running," Riley snapped, trying to snatch back the phone from her. Shaking her head, Bella held it away from her trainer, only to get it taken away by the big bad Edgar._

 _Edward and Bella had taken to running every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday that they could. Sometimes, when Edward was on call, Bella would catch a break; otherwise, she was running and heaving and sweating three times a week._

 _"Who are you texting?" Edward asked her, keeping her at an arm's length so she wouldn't reach her phone._

 _Bella was bad at lying anyway._

 _"Jasper."_

 _Both men gave her a disappointed frown._

 _"What?" Bella tried defending herself. "I need to speak to him."_

 _"About?" Riley asked, lowering the speed at which she was running, not wanting her to hurt herself._

 _"Stuff," she huffed, trying to speed up the treadmill again. Edward tucked away the phone and lowered her speed again._

 _"Isabella Swan, it's time to stop." He said, voice harder than she'd ever heard. It was the voice he used with patients that refused to listen to him and follow the treatment. "Jasper isn't trying to get back together with you. He's trying to survive, and having his ex text him every ten minutes is not going to make things better."_

 _His words were harsh. They were borderline cruel for the young girl, who only wanted to be loved back by her ex-boyfriend. She only wanted him to listen to her; she only wanted him to love her again._

 _Was that too much to ask for?_

 _"I just want him to tell me if he needs any help." Bella tried to explain, but Edward wouldn't have it. He was done seeing her lower herself to her ex-boyfriend, a boy who clearly couldn't be with her._

 _"He had his chance to ask you. It's been over a month, Bell. If he hasn't asked you yet, he obviously doesn't want your help." Edward stated firmly. He'd tried telling her previously in nicer ways, in more roundabout ways, in smoother ways. She hadn't understood. Now it was time he started pushing her out of her delusional bubble._

 _"He might not want it, but he needs it." Bella shook her head, trying to up the speed but being blocked by a disapproving Riley. She was exhausting herself._

 _"Maybe. But he doesn't need it from_ _you_ _." Edward frowned, hating himself for his harsh words. He wasn't saying this out of jealousy (he certainly hoped not, at least); he was saying this because he saw how much it hurt Bella to keep missing him._

 _She threw him a glare._

 _"What do you mean by that?"_

 _Ok, time to be brutally honest then._

 _"He's got his mother, and he's got Maria. You told me he has another best friend, Alec or whatever. He's got people helping him." He took a deep breath, hating himself over what he was about to say. Someday, he'd apologize on his knees for his cruelty. "He doesn't need_ you _."_

 _She'd come to a screeching stop, jumping on top of the side bands. Heaving, she'd stared into Edward's eyes, seeing the truth shine in his eyes. He wasn't lying, she realized. He really thought so._

 _The anger came when she realized she thought so, too._

 _The anger was harbored towards herself, towards Jasper. Towards Maria, who was still next to him whil she wasn't. Towards Mrs. Whitlock, who had always hated her with Jasper. Towards Mr. Whitlock, who was dying. Towards Angela, for suggesting Jasper had something going on with Alice._

 _Towards Edward, for telling her the truth._

 _Towards herself, herself, her own damned self. She was so stupid! How hadn't she thought to pressure Jasper before? Beg him to tell him what was going on? She should've pushed, fucking hell! Maybe then he wouldn't have felt the need to break up with her. To distance himself from her to fix things._

 _To never look back at his decision to break up with her. The decision which hurt her so much, but he didn't seem to regret at all._

 _Did he not miss her? Because she missed him with every fiber of her heart. She didn't feel lost anymore, like the first week of their breakup. But she didn't feel found, either. She realized she'd shaped herself to fit him; she'd finished defining herself as 'Jasper's Bella'. The weight loss road had been long, and exhausting, and it seemed she had just fit in astray pieces of the puzzle to finish it once and for all. Instead of taking the time to finish her self by herself, she had mixed in jigsaw pieces that had Jasper written all over them. Not Bella, as they should've said. Not 'BELLA'S SELF LOVE', not 'BELLA'S SELF ESTEEM', but 'JASPER'S LOVE FOR BELLA'. It had been enough, but with Jasper gone, she was forced to toss aside those out-of-place pieces. She wasn't done, then, making herself. And that hurt._

 _That angered her._

 _"Fuck him," Bella said, not replying to Edward's words but to her own thoughts. Wiping away an astray tear (which had probably been sweat, really), she tightened her ponytail to renew her running. "But fuck me more."_

Then came acceptance.

Well, it was more... forced, she'd say. It came in the worst way possible, of course.

It came in the last week of June... because of Mr. Whitlock's funeral.

* * *

The call came at midnight.

"Hello?" Answered Bella groggily, inadvertently waking up Edward. With vacations (for Bella), Edward had taken to riding her ass (figuratively, of course) to get her off her lazy ass and in the gym. They'd been going now four times a week, and somehow, Edward had managed to shift his schedule to fit the gym outings. She didn't know why he'd take the time, but she was grateful. Doing exercise got her in a better mood, as well as burn off the calories she ingested during her depression stage. Now she was working on abs, although that wasn't going all that well; it seemed her stomach was meant to be more flat than muscled.

Today they'd gone to the gym for two hours; they'd have gone for one, but they kept stopping to bug Riley or to take a break from all the running to talk. The problem was their breaks were too long, so they ended up taking longer. This meant they'd arrived at the gym at about seven and had clocked out at nine, then had arrived at Edward's place at around ten after having gone for a salad. Bella had planned on just making a pit stop to watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Edward's Apple TV, but both of them had ended up falling asleep on the couch. Well, Bella had fallen asleep, and Edward had shrugged and decided to get a nap before her snoring kept him up.

"Bella?"

She was instantly awake.

"Jasper? What's wrong?" She asked worriedly; since their breakup in April, Jasper had only called once, two weeks ago. He'd called to tell Bella that the treatment wasn't going well, and if she'd please cover his shift at a bookstore just this once. She hadn't asked any more questions and had given him her immediate agreement, glad to be used for once.

There was silence on the other end of the line, then just two words.

"He died."

Bella's heart broke.

It wasn't a surprise, and it wasn't the worst loss Jasper had suffered (that would be when his uncle died in a terrible car crash because of an idiotic teenager that had been texting and driving). Jasper had never gotten along with his father all that well, the man being too silent and too withdrawn most of the time. He'd stayed with his mother after the divorce because it was the logical thing to do, and hadn't been all that conflicted about who to go with. However, no matter what, Jasper Whitlock Sr. had been his father, and nothing the man had done or not done would change that. Jasper had really loved his father, too, and admired him in a professional way; Mr. Whitlock had been a successful mechanical engineer, always passionate about his work and always trying to develop new things. Jasper had known because of him that no matter what he did, he wanted to do it with pride.

Now, there were many things that Bella wanted to say. She wanted to tell him she was so incredibly sorry for his loss; she wanted to tell him she still loved him, even if she couldn't be in love with him any longer. She wanted to tell him she'd wipe away his tears and cradle him in her arms if that's what he wanted. She wanted to tell him his father was at peace now, free of the pain that had been plaguing him. She'd gone to visit the man once, when Jasper had school and she knew he wouldn't be there. He'd been so sickly, so gaunt... so ready to die.

"Mr. Whitlock, hi. It's Isabella, Jasper's—" she'd been interrupted by his kind smile.

"Girlfriend, I know. Thank you so much for sticking by his side during this time. He needs someone to lean on right now." He'd answered, breaking her heart further. He hadn't told his father they'd broken up, not wanting to make him feel at fault. She hadn't had the heart to correct the man, and so had wished him painless days and lots of love. She knew wishing him to get better would've been futile.

So many things Bella wanted to say, but she only said one.

"I'll be there right away," she said, holding back tears.

"No," Jasper croaked, surprising her. "I want to be alone right now. Please."

And he sounded so desperate Bella had no choice but to back off.

"I'll see you tomorrow... at the funeral. I'll text you the details," Jasper whispered, then hung up, leaving a crying Bella to a worried Edward.

* * *

On his end, Jasper hung up, crying. He took off his glasses angrily (the ones Bella had once said her brother would like) and rubbed his tears away, wanting them gone. He was on the hospital roof, having run up after his father was pronounced dead. His older brother had been with him when his heart stopped, and he'd been coming in when he'd seen the commotion. It had been an hour he wasn't quite sure how it'd flown by; all he knew was that one moment he was in the bedroom, and the next he was on the rooftop calling Bella, the ex-girlfriend he had no business calling. He'd tried so hard not to give in whenever she texted him, or whenever she called him, wanting to be strong. He'd broken up with her for a reason, and he didn't want her to have to handle his bad moods and heart wrenching sobs. It wasn't fair to her.

Now he'd broken his resolve, and had given into his needs.

He couldn't, however, let her see him like this. He wanted to always be to her the Jasper she remembered.

The Jasper that had loved her endlessly.

Not the man that felt too empty to even miss her anymore.

"Jasper, right?" A voice asked, and startled, Jasper turned around. Through blurry eyes, he saw a small girl with black hair. He recognized her.

"Alice, wasn't it?"

She smiled.

"I was right." She came closer to him, finally seeing his tearful face. She frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Jasper swallowed hard. He had to say it again.

"My father just died." He blurted out, feeling the stab of the words in his gut. "I'm sorry."

She looked at him funny.

"Why would you be sorry? Did you kill him?"

He gave her a halfhearted chuckle.

"No. I just... shouldn't have sprung that on you like that."

"Your father just died. You've got a pass," she smiled at him sweetly. For a moment, Jasper remembered the spark he'd felt with her at the Halloween party, the one he'd failed telling Bella about. He'd thought she wouldn't understand; not that he understood, either.

Alice knew she had a connection with this broken boy. The moment she'd seen the smiling butler, with his blond curls and cute glasses, she'd known she was meant to be with this man. She hadn't known how; she wasn't keen on breaking up relationships, and she'd really liked Bella since the first moment they met. She'd wanted to conserve the friendship almost as badly as she'd wanted to start a relationship with Jasper. Almost, because she had never wanted anything as badly as she'd wanted Jasper Whitlock. She hadn't known why, but all she knew was that some times she'd had these strange feelings, like something had been meant to be. That's how she'd felt upon meeting her friend's boyfriend; like the meeting had been destined, set in stone. Fated.

That's what they were. Fated.

Then Bella and Jasper had broken up. The options of why had gone through her mind, flying one by one but none lingering. Maybe he'd never forgotten meeting Alice, and he'd told Bella he wanted to pursue a relationship with her. Maybe he'd left Bella for Maria, the girl Bella had complained to her about once or twice. Maybe Bella'd cheated on him with the Robert Pattinson lookalike she'd met at the party, the one that seemed to fit so well with her friend. Or, heaven forbid, Jasper had cheated on Bella with someone else. These were the options that flittered through her mind when Bella hadn't shown for two days of classes, and Angela had asked her to send Bella the work ("They broke up," Angela had said with squinted eyes). These options had gone through her mind until she'd seen her friend arrive to class Monday morning with puffy eyes that evidenced crying and an air that screamed heartbreak.

"His dad's dying," Bella had whispered, looking straight ahead at the board. "He didn't want to put me through that."

Even from that, Alice had been able to tell how much it hurt Bella. How badly she'd wanted to be there for Jasper during his hardest times.

Already a handful of times Alice had come here to the hospital, wanting to support Jasper, wanting to give him a shoulder to cry on. She'd always lingered outside his dad's hospital room though, not knowing how to approach the subject. Not knowing what to say. Then today she'd made up her mind to finally talk to the boy, only to arrive when he was walking in a zombie-like state to the rooftop. She'd been listening in to him calling Bella, still his greatest love. She'd been there when he'd asked to be left alone.

But she couldn't. They were meant to be, and she'd never forgive herself if she wasn't there for him when his soul was in pieces.

"What about you? What are you doing here?"

Alice thought of lying. She knew what she'd thought would sound strange, and she knew she'd have to take her time convincing Jasper. She also knew she was willing to make the effort to make him understand.

So she did the wildest thing ever.

She told the truth.

"I'm here for you," she stated simply, hands held out in representation of her transparency, of her honesty.

Jasper did something even crazier.

He believed her.

So he let her see him break down in tears.

* * *

The funeral was, as funerals tend to be, grim. Bella wore a black skirt, a black shirt and black flats. Her parents dropped her off, knowing she'd be in no condition to drive herself. They saw their pensive daughter, wondering when they'd get back the cheerful, sarcastic girl they knew her to be. She was bare of makeup, knowing she'd be crying during the whole affair.

The priest spoke beautifully, and then when Jasper was called up to give a few words, he gave a short speech. He didn't look up, so he never saw her. Then his brother spoke, and next went Mr. Whitlock's estranged sister. Ms. Russo was there, sobbing, despite it all never having wished death upon her ex-husband.

Bella followed the procession, and she stayed away from Jasper through it all, knowing he wouldn't want her right next to him then.

Time passed, and soon enough, Jasper Whitlock's father was buried in the dirt.

"Jasper," Bella whispered, and this was enough to make the boy turn to find his ex-girlfriend's red eyes. He saw her sadness, and he felt his own, and he let himself be enveloped in her tender arms.

He heard sobbing, and then realized it was him.

"D-Dad," Jasper whimpered, feeling Bella under him hug him tighter. She felt even thinner now, and he didn't know it was the result of all the exercise. He wondered if she was eating right, not being present enough in her life to know the reasons.

"I know," Bella silently cried, not wanting to outshine him in his pain. She hurt for him — _so_ much— and she wanted to kiss away the pain. This, however, was all she could do.

So it was all she did.

* * *

"Happy birthday, Edgar!" Bella cheered, dumping a big cake in front of the surprised doctor.

It was July; weeks had gone by since the funeral, and it was as though one man's death had brought back some spirit into the girl. It wasn't as morbid as that; it was just that seeing Jasper's burden end relieved Bella, and it had also made her see that even with that weight gone, Jasper wouldn't go back to her. His biggest fear had already passed, but he still hadn't trusted Bella enough. He still hadn't relied on her, and Bella admitted to herself she wouldn't ever forgive Jasper for that even if they got back together. Especially if they got back together. She'd spend the rest of their lives wondering when he'd cut things off with her (if his mother got sick, too? If he failed a class? If he got fired from his job?), and that was tiring, as well as unfair to Jasper.

 _At least I don't have to see Mary Jane anymore_ _though_ , Bella tried looking at a bright side.

The months that had followed the breakup had been filled by three things, mostly: school, the gym and Edward Cullen. Surprisingly, Bella was suddenly finding herself hanging out with Edward, even when they didn't hit the gym. They didn't go out as much (he was a doctor, after all, and Bella still had college to attend to despite her heartache), but they still saw each other more than they saw anybody else. Edward had told Rose it was time to stop invading her apartment, and Rose had told Edward it was about time he got a fucking girlfriend again. The last one had been from med school and had lasted less than six months, and the one before that had been from high school in a feeble attempt to make Rose jealous. Apart of that Edward had had a doctor he'd had casual sex with every once in a while, and that had ended a year and a half ago when the doctor had tried convincing him to give a relationship a shot.

Back to Bella.

She didn't know why she was spending so much time with Edward, and not at home with her manga, or with her brother, or with Angela or even Alice (despite Angela's words, Bella hadn't treated the girl any differently, liking the girl enough to assume her best friend had been simply wrong). Instead of her family or closer friends, she found herself usually in her brother's girlfriend's best friend's apartment, playing Guitar Hero together or talking for hours on end of silly things like anime or serious things like politics.

Which was why today, on Edward's thirty-first birthday, she was dumping a big cake in front of him in the middle of the hospital's cafeteria, even though Rose was nowhere in sight.

"Thank you," Edward blinked, looking at the plastic 3 and 1 she'd stabbed into the middle of the cake. "How did you find out, though? I never tell anyone."

Birthdays were uncomfortable for him.

She rolled her eyes.

"I may or may not have spotted your date of birth on your driver's license last week. I thought it was only logical that the next step would be to intrude in your place of work to give you a sugary cake and embarrass you in front of your coworkers and friends."

He laughed.

"Logical, yes." He eyed the candles. "Can I blow the candles out?"

She shook her head.

"I haven't sang to you yet, and then you have to make a wish."

She took a deep breath.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Edwina, happy birthday to you!" She sang, terribly, incredibly off-key, in a way that charmed the pants off of Edward (sadly, this was only figurative). She clapped, and she smiled a face-splitting grin, and Edward knew what his wish was.

 _I wish Isabella Swan will be with me for all the birthdays I have left on this planet._

He blew out the candles.

"What did you wish for?" Bella smiled, cheering at how young he was that he could still blow out two candles.

Edward took out the candles, licking the bottom. It was vanilla, his favorite.

"For you to finish losing those three pounds you've got left." He said, laughing when she let out an outraged cry and slapped his shoulder. "Violence!"

"I'll show you violence," Bella muttered, and was about to give him another slap when a voice coughed behind her shoulder.

Turning, she saw a black-haired woman she didn't recognize, standing with a tall, gangly boy she also didn't recognize.

"Dr. Cullen," the woman greeted with a flirty smile. Edward smiled back politely.

"Nurse Cheney," Edward greeted back. "Who's the fella next to you?"

The nurse waved a hand vaguely.

"Oh, you know, this is my brother. Ben. Whatever," Bella and Edward shot the young boy a sympathetic smile. "Who's this?"

The nurse's smile could've frozen lava.

Bella was about to give a very discombobulated explanation when Edward beat her to it.

"She's my girlfriend," he said, and if Bella had been eating, she'd have choked. "Bell, this is Nurse Cheney. We work together."

Bella didn't know whose fish face was better; hers or the nurse's.

"But you don't have a girlfriend," Nurse Cheney insisted. "Everyone in pediatrics knows this."

Edward shrugged, incredibly amused by the women in front of him for different reasons.

"I do now. She's such an incredible girlfriend, wouldn't you say? Brought me this cake and everything. Would you care for some?"

Nurse Cheney shook her head.

"Can I have some?" Ben piped up, shaking Bella out of her confusion and serving him a piece on a napkin.

He devoured it.

"This is _incredible_. Where'd you buy it?" He asked, licking his fingers. Bella wasn't even done serving Edward, and the nurse had stomped off somewhere to pout.

"I made it," Bella smiled, ignoring Edward's look of intense surprise.

"Man, this is sellable stuff," Ben literally licked his fingers, then shot his eyes up to Bella. "Would you?"

"Would I what?" Bella repeated, finally handing Edward his piece of cake and cutting a piece for herself.

"Sell some to me. I have a friend whose birthday is coming up and would _really_ love this cake."

Edward was already fitting as much cake as he could into his mouth, moaning at the deliciousness of it all.

"How about this? I can give you the number of my friend who passed me the recipe. She likes selling pastries on the side, and she'd kill me if she found out I made a sell based on one of _her_ things. Is that ok?"

Ben licked some frosting from his lip.

" _More_ than ok if she's got an even bigger repertoire than you."

As Bella traded phone numbers with the boy, Edward served himself the second piece of cake, vowing to never share it again with anyone else, and even resenting Bella a bit for offering some to the unknown boy.

Ben pocketed his phone, giving a smile at the pair.

"Happy birthday dude. Also, sorry about my sister. I know she can be a pain." He then hurried off to find said sister, knowing he was about to get chewed out for not following immediately.

Finally alone, they had a stare off.

Edward went first.

"Whose recipe is this? You really made it?"

"Angela's. And I did; I also made that strudel you didn't share with Rose." Bella gave him a pointed stare. "I'm your girlfriend now?"

He had the good grace to blush at least.

"Sorry about that. Nurse Cheney can be very persistent, and as you saw, it was common knowledge I don't date. I figured this was my chance to brush off a few offers."

Bella's lip twitched with a smile.

"Rose mentioned you get propositioned quite often," she mentioned casually. "It's so hard being beautiful."

Edward flattened his lips into a thin line.

"Can't you say handsome?"

She shook her head.

"Beautiful," she enunciated, laughing when he threw a napkin at her.

"When's your birthday anyway?" Edward changed the subject, needing to keep his cheesiness inside ("You're far more beautiful, Bella").

"August 17th," Bella answered, biting into her own piece of cake. This would be her only piece, given the fact that she'd seen Edward eye her portion and Ben's with disdain. Sharing was caring but not with food for Edwina. That was fine, anyways; let him get fat. "I'll finally stop being a teenager."

 _Thank God_ , thought Edward. _It's so not ok for a thirty-something to crush on a nineteen year old._

"What're you doing today?" Edward asked, already serving himself the third piece of cake. Bella was impressed; she hasn't witnessed him finishing the second. Maybe he learnt the trick from Rosalie, or maybe that was a doctor thing.

"Hanging out with you," she winked, making the older man chuckle. He was really happy these days; slowly, Bella was returning to her old self, but with an extra _something_ mixed in. He didn't know what it was, but he was glad for it.

 _I was feeling high on you_ , Bella would tell him a few years later. _Seeing you always made my day better._

"Oh yeah? And what are we doing?"

Mischievously, she grinned.

"We're going dancing, _boyfriend_."

-.-.-.-

It turned out what Bella meant by dancing was _salsa_ dancing, and Bella forced him into a suit, donning a green dress herself. She managed to find a restaurant by his house that had Salsa Thursdays, and after eating a light meal, they danced.

Well, tried to anyway. Bella had two left feet.

Feet that happened to have high heels and be well acquainted with his toes.

"I'm _so_ sorry," Bella laughed once they were in front of her house. Edward had come to pick her up (and had been suitably astounded by her dress), so it was only right he drove her back. He couldn't exactly let her ride a bike in dress and heels.

"You don't sound very sorry," Edward noted, chuckling when all Bella did was give him a sheepish shrug.

"I tried really hard not to stomp your feet, but well, some things are just too attracted to each other, you know?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Wanna be a _really_ good friend?"

"Depends."

He gave her his best smile.

"Come by on Monday to the hospital. I gotta brag my girlfriend to a few other coworkers."

She seriously considered the offer.

"Only if I get this Tuesday off from the gym."

"Why?"

"I want to laze around. Tuesdays both my parents get in late, so I'd have the house to myself for most of the day. I like the solitude," she shrugged. She knew she didn't _really_ have to ask permission, but she also knew that if she didn't go to the gym, Edward would annoy her into submission. She spoke from experience.

Edward considered, and decided the benefits outweighed the damages.

"Fine. Deal. But you gotta be real charming."

Bella scoffed.

"Have you _met_ me? I ooze charm. Niceness. Kindness. They'll be so astounded by me they won't even want to compete with me for your attention," she batted her eyelashes. "Night, Edward."

Impulsively, he kissed her forehead.

"Night, Bell."

She slipped into her house, skin burning from the place his lips touched.

Walking back to his car with a shit-eating grin, he answered Rose's incoming call.

"Hello!" He chirped, sliding into the driver's seat.

"Hello? Edward?" Rose asked, confused about the cheerful man on the other end of the line. Edward wasn't a grump, but he usually hated his birthdays. He must've known she was calling to congratulate him.

"This is he," he chuckled, resting his head against the seat.

"You sure? Cause this sure doesn't sound like the birthday boy."

His smile didn't diminish.

"What's up?" He asked instead.

"Well, apart of calling to congratulate you, and now apparently asking if you're high, I have something else so say,"

"I'm not high. Continue," Edward clarified.

"Tanya called. She's coming on Monday night and leaving Tuesday to spend time with you, and she said to not let you escape. I'm sorry, Edward; she's got my Netflix. I've gotta cooperate or I'll never find out to which password she changed it to."

Fuck.

There went his mood.

-.-.-.-

"You like him," Angela teased on Monday afternoon, after she'd gone to the hospital to fulfill Edward's birthday wish. She'd spent an hour flirting with him in the cafeteria, touching his arm here and there, laughing a bit more at his silly jokes, and even glaring at the gaping women. It was surprising how easy the flirting had come; how easy it had been to pretend she was the devout girlfriend, deeply in love with her older boyfriend. In love with Edward Cullen. Well, Edward was a pretty great man. Nice. Attentive. Smart. Fun. Handsome. Single.

"I do not," Bella denied firmly. "He's just a friend."

"Right," Angela nodded. "And I'm a virgin."

Bella glared.

"It's true. He's just a friend."

Angela rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter how often you repeat it, it won't make it true." She pointed out, then sat back. "Alright, tell me this. How come it's been about two weeks since we've been coming back to Johnny's, even though a few months ago you couldn't even look at the sign outside without crying? What changed?"

Bella glared harder.

"I'm not over Jasper yet."

Angela rolled her eyes again.

"Well, he's over _you_ ," she bit back, wanting the dense girl to finally move on. "Furthermore, what are you even doing to yourself? Are you trying to do the whole 'I need time before I can date again'? It's been close to four months. It's ok to move on."

"What do you mean, he's over me?" Bella frowned, stuffing five fries at once into her mouth.

Ange sighed.

"Someone saw him holding hands with Alice a week ago. It's been eating me inside not to tell you. I'm sorry, B."

Her heart stopped for a moment.

Then it restarted.

Stopped again.

"What do you mean... holding hands... But his dad..." Bella was incredibly confused.

Angela looked at her best friend sadly.

"Sometimes people find love during their hardest times." She whispered. "Jasper's been suffering alone all this time. It's time you find someone, too."

Bella had stopped listening. She said a simple goodbye, stumbled out of the restaurant, found her bike. On autopilot, she drove herself to Jasper's place. She hadn't come here in about five months, and it was awful she was going there now like this. Now, when one second morphed into another without warning, without her awareness. This all happened too quickly, but she hadn't rushed.

Before she could feel time passing, she was already there, in front of the wooden steps and ringing the annoying bell. The wind blew past hr softly, unaware of the turmoil inside of her.

"Who is it—" Alice answered the door, smiling, then opening her eyes wide in horror when she saw who was outside. Shit.

"Ali, who is it?" Jasper called, coming up behind her and wiping his hands on a towel.

He dropped it when he saw Bella frozen on his doorstep.

This wasn't how he wanted her to find out. This wasn't _when_ he wanted her to find out.

"Bella, this isn't—"

"What it looks like?" Bella whispered, threat clogged up with tears. "Because it looks to me like you're dating each other. Am I wrong?"

Neither had the guts to answer.

"I see. Your father hasn't even gone cold in his grave and already you're fucking another girl. Good for you," Bella chuckled cruelly, hurt. So hurt.

Jasper took a step towards her, but she took a step back.

"Please, Izzy, let me explain," he tried saying, but she barked out another warped laugh.

"Don't call me Izzy. No, as a matter of fact, don't call me by any name. You've got no right." She shook with her fury. "Your dad died thinking you and I were together. I had the kindness to let him die thinking he hadn't screwed you over one last time, but you screwed me over despite it. Good for you."

He wanted to say something, but Alice beat him to it.

"That's not fair, Bella. You're not being fair," Alice scolded, and the outrage inside of Bella threatened to burst.

"Fair? You know what's not fair? My boyfriend broke up with me to take care of his dying father, and the second his father kicks the bucket, he gets another pussy to fuck. Good luck with that, he's a lousy lay anyways." Bella spat out hatefully. She wasn't even crying. She was just angry. "You know something, Jasper? Fuck you. You never missed me. You never wanted me. I'm done missing you, and I'm done wanting you. You wanted us to be friends? Well, congrats. We're not even that anymore. I want nothing to do with you anymore. Either of you." Bella regarded Alice with cold eyes, ones Jasper didn't recognize, because he'd never seen his ex so hurt. "I thought you were my friend. Turns out you're the scum of the earth."

Jasper stood taller.

"Bella, don't speak to her that way. She's done nothing wrong."

She swung furious eyes towards him.

"Oh, _her_ you defend?" She laughed coldly. "Alright, I guess. That speaks volumes." She threw at his feet the necklace he'd given her one Christmas, one that had the B for Bella engraved on a blue stone. "Should've thrown that away months ago. Fuck you, Jasper. And fuck you, Alice." She zipped up her leather jacket, which she'd needed to undo because of the heat when she hopped off the bike. "One last thing. I _did_ cheat on you, Jasper. With Jake. Your worries were well founded. And guess what? Alice here will cheat on you too. After all, she cheated on her last boyfriend. Big time."

No, she didn't cheat with Jake, but Alice _had_ cheated on her last boyfriend.

But the lie was worth it, if only because she got to see the betrayal on his face. She would've liked to encrust a dagger into Jasper's heart, but this would have to do.

Words instead of daggers.

Betrayal instead of love.

* * *

"Hey Tan," Edward flinched when his sister threw his arms around him on Monday night. It was half past six, and Tanya had been true to her word about coming here, after all. It shouldn't have surprised him; Tan never dished out empty threats.

And a threat it was. Edward avoided seeing his family all he could, after all. It wasn't that they weren't lovely people; he loved his kind mom, and his taciturn dad. He also really loved his troublemaker of a little sister. But Tanya was already twenty-seven and still leaching off of their parents, completely unabashed about it. She got fired from her last job as a waiter, and didn't seem to be willing to use her _accounting_ degree.

Her laziness frustrated him to no end. She was just too lazy, and so she liked working in things she was overqualified for.

Then asked him for money.

And he had a weak heart, so he gave it to her.

"Big bro! How you doin'?" Tanya squeezed the life out of him (almost literally) before letting him go and waltzing into his double bedroom apartment. He'd wanted a single bedroom, but Tanya had bullied him into buying one with an extra room for her. It was where Rose usually spent the night if she was too lazy to go home after a shift, and couldn't manage to bully Edward into giving her a ride home. It was rare, but it happened.

"Better, now that you're here," he answered drily, and it wasn't a complete lie. He really was glad to see her, deep down.

"I know," she teased back. "Where's Rose?"

"Working." He closed the front door. "Like you should be."

Tanya shrugged, plopping down on his couch.

"Got laid off. Something about breaking too many dishes."

He groaned.

"Tanya—"

"I know, I know. I'm getting fired too often, it's all got to do with my incapacity to service people, I should just find a job in accounting, blah blah blah. But I'm gonna do that for the rest of my life, aren't I? Am I not allowed to have fun first?"

He had to take a stand now.

"I won't give you any extra money." Edward said, and this was the most resolute he'd ever sounded, making his sister pause. "Until you get a job with your college degree, I'm not giving you another dime, Tanya Cullen. I'm one hundred percent serious."

They were in the middle of a stare-off when the doorbell rang, saving his ass from giving in.

"Coming!" He called, wrenching open the door. Outside a grim-looking Bella stood, moping and looking on the verge of crying. "Bella? What's wrong?"

She was about to say something when Tanya popped up.

All Bella saw was a beautiful strawberry blonde woman poking her head out, blinking big, beautiful green eyes in interest.

"Who's this little girl?" She piped up from behind him, and for a moment, Edward thought he could see hurt flash across the girl's face. Then Bella schooled her features and looked down.

"Shut _up_ , Tanya." Edward snapped, opening the door wider. "Come in, B. I'll make you something to eat."

She shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm interrupting something. I should leave." Bella started turning, but Edward was quicker and grabbed her wrist. He had a thought like maybe Bella thought Tanya was a lady friend.

 _Lady friend. Am I eighty or something?_

"You aren't interrupting anything. Tanya's my sister. She's here visiting me." Edward explained, and Bella took in a deep breath, suddenly able to. She let herself be led inside, embarrassed. Not thinking further about what had just happened.

"Grilled sandwich ok?" Edward asked, and surprisingly, Bella shook her head. "I'm not—" her stomach growled, making her flush. There it was. "Guess I _am_ hungry. Yes, please."

"Tan, can you make us three sandwiches? I've gotta talk to Bella."

Tanya made an outraged face.

"You're leaving me out of it? Who is she? Edward!"

Edward hid with Bella in his room, sitting her down on his bed while he grabbed a chair and sat down in front of her.

"Now, tell me what happened."

Bella spilled it all. How she'd been talking with Angela (she omitted the first parts) and found out about Jasper and Alice. How she'd stormed to his house and had spat horrible things, driven by the amount of hurt and anger she felt inside. How she regretted saying it as much as she regretted not saying more. How she'd suddenly found herself here, though she had no idea how much time had passed. How she wanted to be comforted as well as assessed on her actions. She wanted to punish herself almost as much as she wanted to be told she'd said the right thing.

"Well, you said what you wanted to. You needed to get it out," Edward began, and was about to continue when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in!"

Tanya poked her head in.

"Can I stay?"

Edward stood, grabbing the sandwiches from her.

"Not a chance," he flicked her forehead. "Get out. We won't be long. And I'll know if you're listening in, and I _promise_ I'll give you a wedgie."

She really hated those. He always took advantage of this knowledge, never afraid to use it against her.

Pouting, Tanya sighed, closing the door behind her.

Bella accepted the sandwich.

"Is she younger than you?"

Edward nodded.

"She's twenty-seven. A jobless accountant, currently. Don't let her bully you into giving you money." Edward warned, only half kidding. Tanya really did do that to his friends.

Men and women alike.

No one was safe from her.

"I'm a cheapskate. No way she's wrestling money out of _me_ ," Bella assured, but Edward didn't know how truthful her statement was. "Do you get along with her?"

Edward bit into his sandwich, frowning when he realized it had mustard. He'd told Tanya a million times he hated it. Which meant she'd probably gone grocery shopping to buy mustard explicitly.

"Yeah. She's my baby sister, and I'm sort of protective of her. However, she's caused me a lot of grief, so I've learnt to not let her slack off." Bella remembered what he'd said, about his sister being a slacker that terrorized his parents, basically. "I wouldn't trade her for anything. Doesn't mean I don't want to wring her neck most of the time."

Bella smiled.

"That's nice." She bit into her own sandwich, noting it had mustard. Score. "Emmett and I get along, but I have a lot of friends that don't like their siblings. Jasper... he never talked to his older brother. Well, he's the son from his father's first marriage, so they didn't really live together, anyway."

Jasper. Right.

Edward sighed, brushing off crumbs from his mouth, done with his meal.

 _How the fuck does he do that?_

"On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the worst pain you've ever felt in your life, how much does this hurt?"

Bella gave him a quizzical look. He explained.

"In medicine, we need a system to quantify pain. If I tell you just the scale, you'll move the scale upwards, because I'm not giving you a point of reference. It's useful."

Huh.

"A... Four, I think, now that the initial sting's gone," Bella answered, surprising herself. "I think I might be even madder at Alice than at Jasper. She was supposed to be my friend, but she got together with him despite knowing that I wasn't over him. I guess I can see how Jasper would want company, although it hurts me deeply that he broke up with me to not burden me, and yet trusts Alice enough to rely on her."

Edward leaned back on his chair, thinking.

"Do you not think he might've been cheating on you with her? I remember you telling me Angela said something about them."

Bella shook her head.

"Jasper never would've done that. I might've been over my head with rage, but I never actually thought he cheated on me. Not emotionally, and certainly not physically." Bella admitted, biting into her sandwich. "It makes me feel even worse about telling him I cheated on him."

Edward gave her knee a nudge.

"If you're so sure about him, I'm sure he knows you weren't being serious. Don't worry about that part."

Bella sulked.

"But worry about the rest, is what you're saying."

He nodded.

"Are you sure you don't even want him as a friend anymore? You said some harsh things, too. Did you mean them?"

Bella blushed.

"He really _was_ a lousy lay," she muttered, laughing when the doctor who'd seen it all blushed, too. "But maybe that was on both of us. Maybe we really just weren't meant to be together. Even sex-wise we were mellow at best."

She was embarrassed to be saying this, but she also couldn't help herself. Honesty came easily when she spoke to Edward.

"Not that you'd know. You haven't been with anyone else." Edward muttered, suddenly feeling like he could really use a drink. Bella flushed even harder; busted.

"He couldn't give me even one orgasm," she blurted out, then slapped a hand over her mouth. That was way too much information.

She also thought Edgar might faint.

"That's, uh..." he coughed. "Unfortunate."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that; you didn't have to know." Bella apologized, and was glad when Edward said she didn't have to worry about that.

"You never have to worry about saying the right thing with me," Edward shrugged it off.

Which brought up another thing.

Bella couldn't help herself. She'd been wondering for the last few weeks, and she thought she had a right to know. It was important. Extremely so.

"Why are you so nice to me?" She blurted out, and suddenly realized she'd forgotten her sandwich. She knew this because she heard it fall to the ground and, embarrassed, leaned down to pick it up. Through it all, she didn't let Edward answer, not being done with her rant. "I mean, you always say the wrong thing when it doesn't count, and the right thing when I need it. You hear me cry endlessly, and you worry about me. Is it just because I'm your best friend's sister in law? I mean, I'm whining. I know I haven't been all that charming these last few months, even if I'm not moping every moment of the day. But not even my own brother lets me rant as much as you do, and that guy lived in the same uterus as I did. So just... why?"

She sounded desperate.

She _was_ desperate to know.

And, for some reason, Edward didn't feel like brushing it off. He knew right now her mind was all over the place, jumping from one priority to another. She wasn't quite over her ex-boyfriend. She probably only saw him as Rose's best friend. He was eleven years older than her; she'd only ever had one relationship. The timing was all wrong. Besides, he'd known her for less than a year, but he was about to confess to feelings it had taken him _fifteen years_ to come clean about to his best friend.

But.

He couldn't keep hiding it. He'd overworked himself to hide his feelings, and he felt depleted. Like it took every ounce of energy in his body not to be the open book he usually was. Bella was extremely perceptive, and he was extremely obvious, which was taking a toll on him. More than that... he didn't want to hide it. He wanted to be obvious; he wanted to throw caution to the wind for once.

So he did.

"It's because I like you, Bell. Not like a friend, not like my best friend's sister-in-law... like a woman. Like an interesting, funny, intelligent, beautiful woman."

* * *

 **Oh my God I finally did it. And, mind you, but this chapter is _extra_ long. I was gonna be evil and cut it off earlier, but when I wrote this I was in Christmas spirit, so there. Lol. I wasn't planning on getting Jasper and Alice together so soon, but you know how we authors are. Indecisive and surprisive. I also wanted Bella and Jasper's breakup to be a bit smoother, but you can't always get what you want... even though it's up to you.**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. Shoutout to Bella's reproductive system. I truly do speak way too much of it. Also, leave me some love.**

 **P. P. S. Your reviews make my day. As I mentioned before, reviews are sort of nerve wracking, but y'all are very kind and nice reviewers. You make me want to post faster. :))**


	8. Birthday Bash

**Hi beautiful people. I hope with this chapter you feel there was as much progress as I felt there was. Also, if you feel like I'm touching many sensitive subjects, that's because I am. I figure art reflects life and _this_ art will reflect thoughts too. Now, I give you Bella's reaction to being confessed to, which is much better than any reaction I've ever had to being told by a boy they like me. Shoutout to them as well as a super heartfelt apology.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't want to live forever. Neither do my characters.**

* * *

"You can't be serious," Bella replied instantly to Edward's insane declaration. "You like Rosalie."

He shook his head.

"Not anymore."

"You were in love with her for God knows how long," Bella accused.

"Fifteen years. And feelings change," Edward explained, leaning back, smirking at Bella's gaping expression.

"And you expect me to believe you suddenly like me?" She screeched, scooting back into the bed. Trying to put more distance between her and the crazy man in front of her. "Don't toy with me!"

He frowned, no longer amused.

"I'm not toying with you. Never think that, Isabella. I would _never_ play with anyone's feelings."

She seemed to be on the verge of crying.

"Then _why_? Why would you tell me you like me now? I just... I don't understand, Edward. I can't..."

He waited for a while, wanting her to get her breathing back under control. It took some time, but he didn't say anything or move an inch until she got control of herself.

"Why would you tell me now, when it took you fifteen years to tell Rose?"

He thought that was a good question.

"I don't really know," he said honestly, just as clueless as she about that part. "I guess I didn't want to wait another fifteen years before finally being straightforward."

"I like Jasper," Bella blurted out, then snapped her mouth closed. It wasn't a lie, but... it hadn't felt right to say that. From the flash of hurt that crossed Edward's face, he didn't think so, either.

She didn't know how to take it back, though.

"I know that," Edward said, but he didn't sound defeated. "I also know you'll stop liking him at some point, and I'll be there."

Her eyes widened considerably.

"Why? Why would you do that?" She snapped, suddenly angry with him. She got off the bed, standing right in front of him. Hands on hips and feet planted firmly on the ground. She glared at him, not avoiding his eyes. "You've given up fifteen years waiting for someone. You expect me to be ok with making you wait? With stringing you along?"

Edward got up too, towering over her. He set the plate down next to him, not wanting to throw the crumbs to the ground.

Bending his neck, he faced Bella's glare squarely.

"I don't plan to wait passively, either." He pointed out. "As you already said, I've done that before. I won't push you, but I'm also done not doing anything."

Her mouth fell open.

Jasper was by now the furthest thing from her mind.

"You plan to... _pursue_ me?" She frowned, bewildered. "Is that what you're saying?"

He nodded.

"If you'll let me."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Are you asking for my _permission_?"

"Well, more or less. I don't want to be an insistent creep. But," he took a step closer to her, and she took a small step back, conscious of the distance between her and the bed. "If I think I have even the slightest chance of having you look my way..." he took another step closer, and Bella took an even smaller step back, aware she'd hit the edge of the mattress. "I'll come closer."

There was about two inches between them. She was too small for him, the top of her head not quite reaching his collarbone. Her neck was craned up trying to look at him, and his neck was bent to attempt to get closer to her.

"You're already pretty close," she squeaked out, attempting to focus on a spot behind him. Looking at him head on was too much.

In a move that shocked both of them, Edward brought a hand up, gently grabbing the back of her neck. He aligned their eyes; her brown eyes met his green. The air was charged with something feral, something oppressive.

"I could be closer." He inched his head forward. "Much closer."

 _Oh my God he's coming too close what do I do I mean he's sort of the hottest man I've ever seen and I'm a hot blooded female, but I'm also not quite over whatshisname, and are his eyelashes really that long? And is his hair bronze, or copper? What's the difference between those two colors anyway? Wait I haven't brushed my—_

"Hey bro— whoa!" Tanya opened the door and slammed it closed.

Heaving against the wood, Tanya was confident of one thing:

 _He's_ really _not gonna give me any money now. Shit._

Edward let go.

Suddenly, Bella felt like she could breathe again. And it wasn't just a feeling; she'd been holding her breath for way too long, and she was finally regaining her breath.

"What are you doing?" Was the first thing that came to her mind to ask but, surprisingly, she didn't. She knew, after all, what he was doing. Instead she asked the second question that came to mind. "Would you have really kissed me if Tanya hadn't interrupted?"

He smiled, eyes crinkling.

"No, I wouldn't have. _That_ would've been forcing myself on you."

Somehow, Bella doubted she would've resisted or felt forced in any way. If he'd gotten just an inch closer, she'd have thrown caution to the wind.

She sat on the bed, craning her neck further to get a good look at him.

"Why now? Why tell me at all, and not just do it? I would've caught on sooner rather than later."

Edward sat on his chair.

"Why now?" He hummed, looking up at the ceiling. "Obviously, I didn't plan it. You asked me why, and I didn't feel like lying. As you've pointed out before, I'm an open book."

She moved on to the next question. Bella had never been particularly curious with other people, but now, she needed answers. Now, she needed to know.

"Why tell me at all?"

"Because that way, you have to face my feelings. You can't do that if I don't lay them out in front of you. Besides," Edward continued nonchalantly. "Knowing you, you'd somehow either convince yourself it was all in your head or that I was just teasing you."

Though Bella made an outraged face, she knew not so deep down he was absolutely right.

There was one question she had left, and so she asked it.

"Why me?"

And even though Edward had been expecting it (he'd found out enough about her self-esteem issues to predict it), he still found it incredibly offensive to be questioned on his taste. It was like when someone asked you why you preferred one flavor over another, or one brand instead of the other one, or a mechanical pencil instead of the classical one. Sometimes, you knew the exact reason why; others, you just did.

This was a mix of both.

"Why _you_? Or why you and not another woman?" He gave her a pointed stare, which she sheepishly avoided.

Bella didn't answer.

"Well, why _you_? I guess that's the part I can explain. I always have a great time when I'm with you, in case you hadn't noticed. You bully me too much, and you love making people uncomfortable. You're witty, honest, kind, smart, and beautiful to boot. Why _wouldn't_ I like you?" He asked rhetorically, shutting her up when she tried to answer. "As to why you and not someone else..." he shrugged. "I don't know. For some reason, I noticed all of this in you and not other women. Sometimes liking someone isn't logical, even if isn't irrational. Maybe it was our mayor histocompatibility complexes that liked each other—" Bella's blank face meant she didn't get the medical reference, but then again, he hadn't expected her to. "—or maybe it was your pheromones. I don't know, Bells. It would be simpler for me to like some female doctor near me, but instead I like a girl eleven years my junior who just so happens to be my best friend's future sister-in-law."

The man had a point.

However, she still needed time to process this.

"Edward—"

"No, Bella, don't." He frowned. "I know what you're gonna say. You need time. Believe me, I know that. All I wanted was to tell you. Don't overthink it, please. I'm not expecting you to date me right this second, or even within the next two weeks. But soon, hopefully. When you're ready." He took a moment to think about his words. "All I'm asking for is a date when you think it's ok. Would you be opposed to that?"

He asked this earnestly.

Like a man who was lost, but wanted to be found.

Bella thought about his question. Would she be opposed? Obviously, on a physical level she was attracted. Like, extremely so. Just looking at his abs three days a week in the gym was sheer torture. On an emotional level... _I also like spending time with him._ Bella could acknowledge that much. He was fun, and he let her get away with a lot of shit. It was also sort of amusing how awkward he usually was, which clashed with his physical appearance. You'd typically expect a cool exterior to be accompanied by a cool interior, but as the saying went, you really couldn't judge a book by its cover. She had to admit she liked who Edward was inside even more than how he looked.

And she _really_ liked how he looked.

So for once, Bella didn't give a scared or impulsive reply.

"No, I wouldn't be opposed to that."

And by Edward's answering smile, he liked that answer a lot.

* * *

"Come on, Rie, let's go!" Mrs. Swan hollered at the young girl. It was the practically the middle of August and one week before going back to class.

It was also the day before her twentieth birthday.

"Coming!" Bella screeched back, knowing if she said it in a normal shout, her mother wouldn't hear and she'd annoyingly holler the same thing again and again until said daughter was downstairs.

Putting the last touch to her makeup (the damned wing kept spreading and spreading until she looked pretty much like Cleopatra), Bella gave herself the once over. She looked good. Real good. Her makeup was almost on point (she thought the eye makeup could've been a bit more even, and her black lipstick was a bit stubborn and kept getting into her teeth), and the royal blue dress she wore was pretty nice, too. All of that coupled with the fact that she'd managed to squarely avoid using high heels made her super psyched to show the world her outfit.

Also, her hair. Damn, she loved the straight brown thing, too.

Today was one of _those_ days. You know, where you stop every time you pass your reflection because you just like it _that_ much. Where you were one second away from winking at yourself on the spoon's reflection, where you felt like taking a million selfies just to remember how good you felt.

But Bella didn't have a phone that took pictures, and she was too shy to stare at herself on reflections so obviously whenever she passed by one.

So instead, she smiled at herself on the mirror. She liked herself on days like these. A lot.

She felt powerful. Deserving. Pretty.

And nobody could tell her otherwise.

"Here here," Bella said, coming down the stairs. She suddenly heard her mother shout at her to wait, and freezing on the last step, she looked up to find 'iPad Faced Rennie', as her father had dubbed his wife. Sometimes, the crazy woman would hide behind the iPad and wouldn't surface until the camera roll was filled to the brim.

This time, thankfully, it only lasted about a minute. Then Renée's face resurfaced, seeming on the verge of crying.

"Ma?"

She sniffled.

"I'm sorry, honey, it's just... You look beautiful. It's taken you so much time and effort to get here, but you look as wonderful as you are on the inside."

Bella blew a kiss to her mom, feeling her heart swell with love for the woman. Her mom had a hard time paying compliments, and her father was a man of very few words, which meant she wasn't used to hearing such nice things from her parents (they were kind people, though, and they never said anything mean, either, not as far as Bella had memory). She didn't mind much, usually; they never left out the mandatory 'I love you' when she bid them adieu to head to school, or when she told them goodnight. Renée usually told her with her eyes how beautiful she found her, and Charlie would just kiss the crown of her head.

She loved her parents unconditionally, as she knew they loved her.

"You really do," her father said, throwing an arm over her shoulders and kissing her temple. This meant another two minutes of iPad Faced Rennie, who gushed about how cute they were on the pictures.

"I'm hungry!" Bella finally barked, shaking off her parents. "Let's eat!" Her mother glared. "Please."

They shuffled out of the house.

"Emmett's meeting us there, right?" Bella checked. They were going to her favorite Italian restaurant, and then they were dropping her off at Angela's. The girl had called for a sleepover to celebrate her best friend, and they would be accompanied by some of their other high school friends. They would've invited Alice, but, well.

She decided to fuck Bella's ex-boyfriend.

"Yes. Are you sure you don't want to invite Rose?" Charlie asked, still hopeful. He really enjoyed spending time with Rosalie.

Bella nodded.

"I just want it to be the four of us."

This was true.

She didn't know when would be the next time the four of them would be alone together. Maybe Emmett would propose to Rose, and by Bella's next birthday they'd be married and with a kid on the way. She knew it was a bit selfish, but she really wanted her big brother to herself one last birthday. She had, however, wanted to explain personally to Rose the situation, but the doctor had been taking up so many night shifts this week that she hadn't had a chance to. So she'd had to relegate the duty to her brother, who promised to explain to the best of his abilities.

One way or another, Bella knew the man had to have fucked up.

Digressing.

"Ok honey, whatever you want. It's your day," Charlie sighed, opening Renée's car door for her. Smiling at her husband, she got in while Bella got behind the driver's seat.

"I swear he wants more than anyone for Em to propose to Rose," Bella muttered, watching as her father rounded the car and got in.

Her mother simply nodded in agreement.

They got to the restaurant easily enough, lucky for once that traffic was light. Emmett was already waiting for them, looking dashing as ever in a suit and a purple tie, Bella's favorite color.

"Sister!" Emmett opened his arms dramatically, rising from his seat.

She threw her arms back dramatically, too.

"Brother!" She cried, smacking into him and being lifted in a bear hug. "Em! I'm wearing a dress."

Chuckling, he put her down.

"Right, I forgot." He smiled, tucking a strand hair behind her ear. "You look beautiful, Marie."

She blushed, simply thanking him. Sometimes, you just had to take a compliment without joking.

"Now, let's sit down!"

They sat.

"Mom, Emmett is using the—" Bella started accusing her brother, then saw her mother sending a tweet. "Phone."

She glared.

"It was important," Mrs. Swan didn't even bat an eyelash, just locking her phone and putting it to the side. "Emmett Carter Swan, put down that phone."

Pressing his lips into a thin line, Em did as told. He would never stop answering to his mother.

He'd tried and failed.

"So, who are you seeing tonight?" Charlie asked, thanking the waitress who brought them the menu. Bella didn't really need it (she knew by heart what she wanted), but she accepted it anyway.

"Angela, Bree, Lauren, Jess and Han. It's been a while since the whole crew has seen each other."

"What about that Alice girl you invited to the Halloween party?" Charlie asked, and Emmett swung his eyes towards his dad in a way that read the older man had fucked up and had to find a way to fix it.

It wasn't necessary.

Bella just shrugged, opening the menu but not really reading the options.

"We aren't on speaking terms anymore, after she started dating Jasper."

Mr. and Mrs. Swan were equally shocked, not having heard this before.

"What? That little—" Bella blocked her mother's rant, not wanting to hear the well-meant insults. When Renée had run out of things to say, Bella spoke.

"It's fine, mom. I've made my peace with it. I mean, Jasper and I _did_ break up four months ago, and that's after a couple of months of our relationship going a bit sour." She closed the menu, looking up to see the gaping mouths of her family. Offended, she frowned. "I'm capable of handling things maturely."

Em begged to differ.

"It's not a matter of maturity, Rie. I mean, that girl sort of dealt a low blow, not to mention the amount of shades of fucked up Jasper was for doing that. I think it's ok to curse her out." Emmett put a hand over her shoulder, gripping it tightly in a show of support. She patted it.

"I'm tired of cursing her out, to be honest. I did that for about a week after finding out she and Jasper were together. Right now... I just want to move on, ya know? Leave them behind. Focus on happier things," she tried hinting at a change of subject.

Fat chance.

"But what are you gonna do when you see her when classes start again, love?" Renée asked worriedly. "I know you've got most classes with her, usually. What if it's the same now?"

Bella thanked the server that had brought her a Diet Coke.

"Then I'll ignore her. Mom, I already insulted her in a sort of mean way. I saw her at Jasper's place, and I said a few nasty things in the heat of the moment. Nothing I'd repeat, so don't even try." She warned, seeing the lawyer's expectant face. "I'd just like to pretend nothing ever happened."

Renée pouted.

"You don't have enough mean bones in your body."

Somehow, her mother managed to make it sound like something bad.

"I think that's not required to lead a peaceful life," Bella replied dryly, taking a sip from her soft drink.

"But it is if you want to stand up for yourself." Renée pointed out.

"I can stand up for myself without being mean." Bella made an abrupt change in subject —the only kind that worked with her mom. "So the girls and I are planning on watching a movie, and then we'll try to pull an all-nighter which will probably only last until three in the morning. So, I'd say I'd appreciate a family member picking me up at around... Four-ish?"

Said family members looked at each other.

"Oh, honey, we have that lunch we told you about, remember? It's at three. We agreed to go when you said you wanted to spend your actual birthday with your friends." Charlie said, speaking on behalf of all of them. It had to do with his wife's job, and because she worked together with Emmett, he and Rose had also been invited.

Flaw in her plans, then.

"Oh. I mean, I thought..." she trailed off, frowning. "I thought we were still having cake tomorrow."

Renée nodded.

"Oh we are, love. Just later, at around six or seven. That's when we'd figured you'd be coming back from Angela's." Mrs. Swan explained, feeling increasingly terrible because of the wounded look on her daughter's face. She knew the girl felt birthdays were the most important time of the year, and a part of her felt like she was letting down her youngest child. She, however, had already compromised.

"Can't you ask Jessica or Lauren to drive you back?" Emmett asked, knowing both girls lived relatively near them.

"Can't. They're going with their boyfriends on a three-day weekend, and the house isn't on the way." Bella drank some more Diet Coke. "I'd ask Han, but her mother's picking her up and we don't exactly get along. Bree doesn't drive, and she's staying another night at Angela's anyway."

Bree and Angela had grown up together, so they'd met through Ange. Bree had gone to a public high school and had brought along Siobhan, a beautiful girl that had the most amusing (and somewhat grating) laugh ever. Both girls were incredibly nice, though, and had been super popular in their high schools (unlike Bella and Angela). Jess had transferred out on junior year of high school, and when she left, Lauren had arrived.

Now the gang was back together (for a day).

"Oh..." Renée frowned, trying to think of an alternative.

"Ma, it's fine. I can call an Uber."

They all gave her a hard glare.

"Or not."

None of them trusted her in public transportation. Bad experiences and all.

"I'll ask Cullen then," Emmett finally decided. "He's got the day off tomorrow. I'm sure he won't mind."

Bella's eyes widened considerably.

 _No!_ She wanted to shout.

"Oh, I don't want to bother him. Really, I'll find some other way home." Bella started backtracking, but Emmett had already found a solution the whole family could agree on.

Everyone except her, of course.

Things had been... awkward. For her, she knew, because Edward hadn't changed a bit how he treated her. Whenever she tried avoiding him, he was calling her. When she tried being dramatic, he went along with her easily in a way that shut her right up. At the gym (she hadn't gotten a break from that), she literally tried outrunning him by going so fast she couldn't even talk. After a while, Edward had gotten the hint and had gone back to weightlifting, running only when she was done with the treadmills.

Her thoughts seemed to be consumed by Edward Cullen.

It was weird. She'd never thought this much about Jasper, or even Jake, whom she'd actually liked for a couple of years in a very detached way. She could forget about Jasper, and she'd usually forgotten about Jake quite easily, but Edgar...

She thought about him so much every time she actually saw him she swore he was an apparition.

He was everywhere.

Saying, every time, _"If I think I have even the slightest chance of having you look my way...I'll come closer."_

Shivering, Bella got herself back into the conversation.

"Too late. I already sent him a text, and he already replied his ok." Emmett said, having taken advantage of her distraction.

She huffed in dissatisfaction.

"You're bothering him on his day off." Bella pointed out, but saw she'd already lost. Three out of four Swans were satisfied with the outcome, and she was the unfortunate minority.

She was about to make another comment when she got her own text from Edward.

 **4 ok? Your brother sent me the address.** -E

Apologizing for using her phone, Bella replied.

 **Pls & sorry.** -B

 **Why are you sorry?** -E

 **I'm bothering u.** -B

 **Not at all. I'll take you out for ice cream.** -E

And that made her happier than she was willing to admit.

-.-.-.-

"So he's picking you up in twenty?" Jess asked, wiggling her eyebrows. It was her actual birthday already, and the sleepover had ended way too soon for her liking. At midnight, very sweetly, Edward had sent Bella a happy birthday text, and for once, Bella had wished she had enough phone space to save texts. She and Jasper had rarely texted at all, and when they did, it had been very to the point. She wasn't a big texter, and her phone didn't lend itself to make her one, either.

"Yeah. Says he'll take me out for ice cream."

"He _so_ wants you," Lauren sang, putting the finishing touches on her makeup. Bella blushed.

"Well, he _did_ sort of ask me out already." Bella pointed out, having already spent a good hour retelling the story she'd already dished out to Angela.

Ange was Team Edwina all the way.

"Ange says he's dreamy." Bree batted her eyelashes. "That he looks like Robert Pattinson."

"Take me to him!" Siobhan cried dramatically, making all of the girls dissolve into giggles at her silliness.

"No, but really," continued Jess. "I'm so glad you're moving on from that asshat. He was never good enough for you."

Jessica and Jazz had never really gotten along.

"I'll never understand your aversion to him. What'd he do to you?"

Jess shrugged.

"Nothing. But the moment you two started dating, you started dropping us to go on dates with him. And he never wanted to hang out with us, which meant he had you all to himself." Jessica complained, fluffing her brown hair and making a duck face at the mirror.

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Bella frowned.

All five pairs of eyes settled on her.

"You cancelled on us _twice_ to go watch one of those anime movies you like so much. And that was _your_ plan."

Fair point.

Sighing, Bella let her shoulders fall.

"Why didn't any of you say anything before?" She whined, gathering her hair up in a bun at the top of her head. They were all currently fixing themselves up, except for Angela and Bree, who had the plan to veg around the house all day long.

"It wasn't our place," Angela pointed out, and the other four girls nodded along.

"You would've gotten mad at us, anyway. We figured we'd just wait for you to realize it by yourself... or for you two to break up." Lauren shrugged.

Turns out what happened was the latter.

"I'm sorry girls," Bella said glumly. "I promise never to let myself be like that again."

They gave her a doubtful look, but said nothing. They knew she meant it.

That she'd do it was another matter.

"So, do you like Edward?" Jess changed the subject, but Bella was _not_ willing to answer that question, so she diverted the conversation again.

"Ange, how's Ben?"

After the whole cake thing, Ben and Angela had met so she could give him said cake. The day after that, Bella had received two texts. One from Ange that said she had a date with Ben Cheney, and one from Ben that said he'd probably met the love of his life... but that he'd liked Bella's cake better.

This was a text Bella would take to the grave.

Also, she took a picture of it with her mom's phone. She never knew when she might need the evidence of Ben's betrayal.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe what he—"

Score.

They spent the next fifteen minutes talking about Ben, intermittently talking about Mike Newton, Jessica's boyfriend, or Tyler Crowley, Lauren's boyfriend. About five minutes to four Lauren's boyfriend arrived, though, and silently weeping, Lauren promised to meet Edward next time. Jess teased her that she'd tell her all about it, but at four on the dot Mike arrived in his blue pickup truck to take Jess away. Whining, Jess attempted to stall her boyfriend all she could, but Mike wasn't having it ("Jess, traffic's gonna be really heavy leaving the city. We've gotta go _now_."). Pouting, she'd asked the remaining girls to have a proper look at Bella's suitor.

"Girls," Edward greeted, taking off his helmet. He'd arrived at five past four, citing the traffic for being _five whole minutes late_. Bella had blown his apology off, but she'd been secretly thrilled he was so punctual. It was always a nice quality to have.

"Edward, these are my friends, sans two of them. Angela you've already met," Ange waved shyly, the way you did when you saw a very hot guy and didn't know how to act. "That's Bree and that's Siobhan."

Edward waved.

"Girls, nice to meet you."

They all giggled like the college girls they were.

"Oh, you really _do_ look like that actor," Bree giggled, batting her eyelashes. Bella would've glared at the girl to tone it down, but she sort of understood her friend. It was hard to control yourself in front of such beauty.

"So I'm told." Edward smiled good-naturedly, then handed an extra helmet to Bella.

"Ange, Bree, Han, I'll call you later. I love you girls," Bella said, hugging each girl one by one, lingering an extra bit on Angela. They were, after all, each other's best friends. Bree and Angela might've known each other the longest, but they weren't as close as Ange and Bella.

"Happy birthday, B," Angela whispered in her ear, and kissing her cheek, Bella broke away, waving at the girls goodbye as she hopped on the back of Edward's bike. Apparently, he had a car _and_ a bike. He didn't use the bike much, saying he was easily cold and a bike didn't help that. When she'd asked him why he hadn't taken the car to the Halloween party, Edward had said it'd been getting some work done.

Digressing.

Bella hugged Edward's back, blushing intensely underneath the helmet. She looked away from the direction of her friends, knowing if she did she'd find giddy faces and probably obscene gestures.

"You ok back there?" Edward called out, revving the engine. Bella simply nodded and grabbed Edward tighter.

They went to a nearby Ben & Jerry's, where Bella told Edward what she wanted and waited for him outside.

"Cookie dough with fudge for you," Edward came back a few minutes later, placing the cup and a water bottle in front of her and sitting down with his own ice cream across from her.

"Thank you," Bella chirped happily, always glad to be fed.

"No problem. Also," Edward remembered, then placed a squared gift in front of her. "Happy birthday."

She blinked.

"Oh, you didn't have to get me anything. I feel bad." Bella said as she unwrapped her gift, flashing the man a sheepish smile.

Opening it, her mouth dropped.

It was an iPhone.

"I can't accept this." She said automatically. This was simply too much. It was an iPhone 5S, if she was correct, looking new.

Edward waved her off.

"Sure you can. It's my old iPhone. I know you really like your Nokia, but I figure it's not as practical as you wish it was." Busted. "I was gonna sell it, but then I heard Emmett complaining about your phone, and figured this was the next best thing. No strings attached. It's a gift."

Bella was still hesitant.

"This cost you a lot of money to buy. It's not right," Bella insisted, but Edward wasn't having it.

"I'm giving something I don't use anymore to a friend. I expect absolutely nothing from you." Bella tried saying something, but Edward already knew what it was going to be, so he shushed her. "No money. I won't charge you for a gift. It's in great condition because I barely used it. If you want, once you've installed it, I can teach you how to use it. _If_ you accept it."

So she had an option now?

"You seemed very insistent on me accept it," Bella grumbled, pouting, then chanced a look up at him. "Why are you grinning so wide, Cheshire?"

He laughed.

"You _so_ want to accept it. That old Nokia's been annoying you more than you want to admit. It was a good phone... in 2003."

She wanted to deny his statement, but couldn't.

He was, unfortunately, right.

"But why would you give me a phone?" Bella insisted, not quite understanding his generosity.

"Because I want to text with you a lot, and call you a lot, and I want you to have a good tool for my pestering you." He glared when she was about to interrupt, knowing what she'd say next. "It's not conditional. If you and I don't work out, you don't have to give it back —that's why it's a gift. If you want, you can think of it like a test phone. You can keep it for a while, see if you like iPhones, and then buy one if you want. How's that? It'd be like a loan then. If you do end up buying one, you can give that one away. I won't have it back."

She fell silent.

Ok, so the second option was a good one. She was always terrible at asking for gifts, so she had some money saved up from her past birthdays where she didn't know what she wanted and her parents hadn't wanted to leave her empty handed. That, or she could use Edward's phone until December, and then she'd ask for an iPhone for Christmas. Then, because this guy was so adamant on not wanting it back, she'd give away the older phone or sell it really cheap, then give the money back to Edward.

Grinning wide, Edward knew he'd sold her the second idea.

"Second option it is?" Edward asked.

"Second option it is."

Internally, Edward did a fist pump.

"Good." Edward said, and tried acting like the mature adult that he was supposed to be, but the smirk creeping up on his face betrayed him.

"You're rejoicing in me accepting a gift?" Bella raised an eyebrow, amused by his reaction.

"Sure I am. I had a 50/50 chance of getting you to accept it, and that's my hopefulness speaking."

Bella pouted.

"I'm not that bad, am I?"

He smiled, finishing the last of his ice cream cone.

 _How the fuck does he do that? The food fucking vanished again!_

"You're far from bad, Bell. I don't go around giving things to other girls. Just you."

"And Rose," something made Bella say.

He shook his head.

"Rose only lets me buy her food. It never felt right for her to accept things from me. She was right."

She gave him a questioning glance.

"So why's it ok for me to receive stuff?"

He wiped his mouth, giving her a secretive smile.

"You're just different."

"How?" Bella frowned, but Edward refused to answer.

 _Being around Rose was a habit,_ Edward would explain some day. _Being around you was a need. It still is._

"Anyway, you've gotta get a different chip to use with the iPhone. You use AT&T?" Bella nodded. "I can take you there. It's on the way."

They didn't move.

Bella watched Edward, who sat there with an ease she wished she had. He was so handsome.

She voiced her thoughts.

"You're so pretty," she sighed, making Edward laugh. "No, really. Like, super pretty. I wish I had lashes like yours. I mean, I could pass on the beard, but if it'll mean I'm half as pretty as you, I'll take it."

"You're ridiculous. You're already beautiful, Bell."

She blushed.

"You're still calling me Bell."

"And you still have me saved like Edwina on your phone. I saw that." Edward pointed out, something Bella really didn't have a retort for.

"I won't change it."

"Then I'll keep calling you different names. Can I call you Rie yet?"

"No. Family only."

"Marie?"

"I'd hate having to punch you after you just gave me a gift."

"Don't then, Marie."

Bella tapped him on the right shin.

" _Ow_!"

Ok, so it was a little harder than a tap.

"I warned you. You chose not to listen." Bella huffed, feeding herself another spoonful of delicious ice cream.

"I demand compensation for my broken leg."

"It's not broken," Bella rolled her eyes, fighting a smile at his dramatics. She indulged him anyway. "What do you want?"

He gave her a smile that made her feel like a canary facing a cat.

"A date."

Thankfully, he'd paused long enough to give her time to correctly swallow the ice cream. Had he just thrown that bomb at her, she would've died hacking up the lactose produce.

As it was, she'd die hacking up saliva.

Coughing madly, she glared at him with watery eyes as she drank from her water bottle.

"No."

"Why not?" Edward didn't look particularly deterred.

"Because..." Bella sputtered for words. "Because you're not serious."

"I am. I want to take you on a date. Where should I sign?"

"It's too soon." Bella countered.

"It's been four months since you ended things with Jasper. You're more than halfway to forgetting him."

"You're too pretty for me."

"We already established you're the beautiful to my pretty."

"You're too old for me."

"As of today, we're back to me being eleven years older. Also, I'm not old. But think that you will always be the young and beautiful to my old and decrepit."

"You're a doctor."

"I am. I'm also devoted to my job but I know how to clock out. Exhibit A." He motioned to the two of them.

"You're not over Rosalie."

At this, he actually twitched a little bit, looking a bit pissed. He got himself quickly under control.

"I am. I have been for a while."

"You..." Bella grasped at an excuse, any excuse, but found she'd run out of them. Besides, what was the point? He had an answer for everything. "I don't want to."

What the fuck. That was a lie.

However, at this, Edward finally seemed defeated.

"That, there's nothing I can do about." He finally said, leaning back on the plastic chair. "If you don't want to go on one date with me, I can't make you."

But he looked so incredibly sad, like a wounded puppy.

 _You guilted me into that first date we had, remember?_

 _I absolutely did. And I'll remain unrepentant until the day I kick the bucket._

"Alright," Bella finally sighed. "One date."

* * *

 **Hey! So, I know this chapter's a little shorter than usual, but oh well. That's the way it turned out. Sorry about that. Also, I already planned out the rest of the story, and so far we're looking at fifteen chapters total. I doubt I'll extend it, and if I do, it'll probably be one chapter max.**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. I'll probably say this every chapter, but whatever. Thank you so much for your amazing reviews. I'm working really hard to make this story into something some of you will look back at and want to read again. Hopefully, some of you will understand when I say that every positive review makes my heart grow warmer. Writing's a hobby, but it's also incredibly rewarding when you see you have a positive impact in someone's life. Some people like it so much they make a living out of that feeling. Hehe. Now I'm done being cheesy.**

 **P. P. S. I would never accept anything expensive from anyone outside my immediate family. If you thought Bella was out of her mind for accepting the phone, she was. However, it was necessary for literary purposes. Forgive me.**

 **P. P. P. S. I know I promised another update before the New Years, but I didn't realize just how little time there was between the last post and the new year (happy 2017 by the way!). So, to apologize, I give you this chapter.**


	9. Prone to Love

**I am _really_ proud of myself for not jumping the gun with this story. Instinct told me to get these two together in like chapter two, but then the story wouldn't be what it is now. I'm glad I ignored myself, like I always do. :')**

 **DISCLAIMER: These characters are... OOC. *Shocks you all***

* * *

"Guess who's got a hot date next Thursday?"

Rose jumped up from the bunk bed, knocking her forehead into Edward's nose with such strength... she broke it.

Which was how he found himself in his best friend's hands, getting his nose manually realigned.

"I'm sorry, Edward, but you startled me! You suddenly said something so shocking and your big nose was right in front of my face. How the hell was I supposed to know?" Rose barked, placing the internal splint.

Edward still moaned in pain.

"Who the fuck shoots up like that?" Edward whined, flinching at the pain. Rose stilled his face so she could finish putting the outer dressing and the splint. The break wasn't so bad, but Edward bitched so much about his beautiful face that Rose had found herself making sure not a millimeter was out of place when it came to his nose. He'd still have some bruising around his eyes in the morning, but there was nothing she could do about that.

" _I_ do." Rose tilted his head to admire her handiwork. "Don't go to the gym for two weeks. You'll get soggy in the meantime, but hopefully, Bella will still want you." She laughed at the intense glare he gave her. "Kidding, kidding. Just a lil bit of belly. Anyway, careful when putting on your helmet." She took off her gloves. "Now, tell me about your hot date."

It was like those were the magic words.

"It's on Thursday," Edward said, thankful that he'd have from now (Saturday) till Thursday to get his swollen face under control. He'd been looking forward to going to the gym with Bella, knowing they had a date together soon, but that would have to wait, given the most recent event. He really didn't think it'd be a good idea to hit the gym with such a tender nose, and he wanted to avoid the humiliation of having Bella see him in such a state. The forehead bump incident had been bad enough.

"And? It's with Bella, right?" Rose checked, suddenly realizing Edward hadn't explicitly said that part. Then again, he had told her he'd sort of hinted at it a few weeks ago to the no-longer-teenager.

Edward rolled his eyes like that was a ridiculous question.

With his track record, it really wasn't.

"Of course. I wouldn't date another girl." Edward said, warming Rose's heart. "I've waited too long to find a woman like Bells to go out with anyone else."

Annoying as her best friend could be, he was also incredibly sweet.

"Where are you taking her?" Rose asked, rearranging the first aid kit (which was made up of highly advanced equipment, which meant it didn't really classify as _first_ aid anymore).

"I was thinking the Japanese Art Museum, then bowling, and ending it with some restaurant of her choice."

"Don't you think you should have the restaurant thought out? What if she can't make up her mind?" Edward gave her a look. "I wanted to try saying that. We both know she's not lacking in opinions," they laughed, thinking of how assertive the girl was.

"I can give her a heads up, though, in case the restaurant needs reservations." Edward acquiesced, checking his face in his iPhone's camera. Truly, he was already starting to bruise around his eyes, and combined with the dressing he did _not_ look particularly sexy. He calculated that by the time of the date the bruise would already be a reddish blue as opposed to a purplish black. Unfortunately, he also figured that Bella would have a blast making fun of him either way.

"Oh, you're fine. She already agreed to date you despite having seen you with that awful bump on your forehead, _and_ you told me you showed her your feared scars. Somehow, I think she'd be the last person to actually mind that nasty nose of yours."

Edward sulked.

"But I wanted to look pretty for our first date."

She let out a booming laugh that sounded an awful lot like Emmett's. He flinched, which hurt his nose, which made him silently cry his heart out.

"You're such a baby," Rose teased, wiping her hands on her scrubs. Technically, she was off the clock and ready to go home, as opposed to Edward who was on call He'd gone to tell one of the nurses to give him a few minutes to get his nose together, but Nurse Carmen had taken one look at his face and had just held up a hand and shown him and Rose to the supply closet. "You'll also have to tell me later how her birthday went."

Right; he knew Rose wanted to have dinner with the girl and her family, but apparently Emmett had told her Bella wanted it to be only them.

Rose confessed to him Emmett had made it sound like Bella didn't want _her_ there, but that she'd figured Emmett was just not choosing the right words.

Thankfully for all of them, she was right.

"Yeah. We went to Ben & Jerry's and an AT&T." Rose gave him a questioning glance. "I gave her my old iPhone."

"You don't _have_ an old iPhone."

"I may or may not have bought a used one. I would've bought a new one, but she'd have known then I lied about it having been mine." Edward said, getting up from the little plastic chair he'd been sitting on. "I'll tell her the truth some day."

No he wouldn't.

"Why'd you want her to have a smartphone so bad?"

He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly.

"Sorta wanted to talk with her a lot." Rose refused to let the 'aww baby boy' feeling show on her face. "Are you mad I never gave you a phone?"

Just a little bit.

"I thought we were best friends forever, you jerk." She huffed, winking to let him know she was joking. "Maybe you should dial it down a little bit though. I think she might feel you're coming on a bit too strong, don't you think?"

It had crossed his mind.

"I..." he frowned, ignoring the pain flashing through him. "No?" He sighed when Rose took on The Warrior stance. "Fine. Maybe. Some times. I do occasionally exert some self control."

 _No you didn't,_ Bella would inform him some months into their relationship. _I should've run for the hills, but I guess some part of me knew just how badly I needed you._

"So long as you're trying..." Rose sang, looking at her watch. "Now I'm off. I've lost too much time here fixing that mess," she motioned at his face.

He was not amused.

"Bye cruel woman."

She blew him a kiss, opening the door for him, then headed in the opposite direction from him.

"Dr. Cullen," Dr. Patterson passed by him, and Edward returned the greeting.

Dick.

Going to the nurse's station, he hid behind a wall, wanting to play hooky for a few minutes. He texted (surprise!) Bella.

 **How's the new phone?** —E

 **Good. How's the nose?** —B

Edward's smile slipped off his face. He would kill Rosalie Hale.

 **It's just a scratch.** —E

 **Pics or it didn't happen.** —B

Was she... asking for a _selfie_? He resisted the urge to grin wider. It hurt his delicate nose.

Looking around, not wanting to give himself away, he stealthily took a picture of his pouting face. Just as he pressed send, he took his eyes off the phone long enough to see Nurse Carmen look at him with disapproving eyes.

"Kids these days. Come on Cullen, we should find you a mask if you're gonna treat children with that ugly mug of yours."

* * *

"Oh my God that's nasty," Bella laughed, receiving Edward's picture. He was pouting in the picture, and there was an angry older nurse approaching him in the background, half hidden by a wall. She made the photo his profile picture in her phone, and she knew she'd only replace it once she had something _much_ better.

 **Don't suppose you can hit the gym with that injury.** —B

She sent the text, laughing to herself. It was too precious.

"What're you laughing at?" Vicky raised an eyebrow, slurping her orange juice. They were in their usual salad restaurant, celebrating Bella's past birthday by eating healthy. Today Vicky hadn't had work, it being a Saturday, so they'd finally managed to get together at a later time. Both were more sociable at night.

Bella almost threw her phone away, then remembered this one wouldn't survive the fall.

"Also, is that an _iPhone_?" Vicky gaped, having grown too used to the old rock of a phone her friend possessed.

"Maybe." Bella stuffed some salad into her mouth. "Can't talk." She said, voice muffled by all the lettuce in her mouth.

Giving her a disgusted look, the journalist leaned back.

"Spill." She commanded, then glared when the intentionally dense girl let spill some of the lettuce in her mouth. "The gossip. Not your food, you disgusting child."

Bella finished chewing, then swallowing, and finally answered.

"I'm not a child." She pointed out, motioning to her boobs. "Also, no gossip. Just my life story."

Vicky didn't move a muscle.

Sighing, Bella washed down the salad with some lemon juice and nodded.

"Fine, fine," she sighed, leaning back, too. "Edward asked me out."

But Victoria still didn't move.

"Vicky?"

"I'm waiting for you to tell me the truth."

Bella laughed, rolling her eyes.

"That's the truth! He asked me out yesterday, after giving me his old iPhone. I said yes." She dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. "We're going on a date on Thursday."

Vicky's mouth fell wide open.

"You're not shitting me," she stated, seeing the seriousness on the girl's face. "That piece of gorgeousness asked you out?"

Bella nodded, noting how dangerously close the woman was from screeching.

"Two pieces of gorgeous dating seems only right," Bella joked, cracking her pinkies. Vicky flinched from the noise.

"Wait, hold up. Wasn't he in love with Rose or something? You'd mentioned something like that when you first met him." Vicky pointed out; she saw her phone's screen light up, probably with a text from James. She fought every urge in her body to check what it said and flipped the phone so she couldn't see the screen. It was only right; even now that Bella had a phone, the girl wasn't texting while eating. She'd been using the phone while Vicky had gone to the bathroom, and had put it away when she'd come back.

Bella did a 'beats me too' shrug.

"He says he's over her. What's more ridiculous is I believe him, even if it makes no sense. Apparently, he was into her for fifteen years, but it takes him less than a year to stop liking her and ask me out." Bella stared at her dented salad, wanting to convince her brain she wanted to eat it all.

"What he said is as ridiculous as you believing him," Victoria agreed, stabbing into her own salad. "I didn't know you liked him, though."

Bella frowned.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I certainly don't _dis_ like him, but do I _like_ like him...? I don't know if I'm completely over Jasper, so I don't think it'd be fair to Edward to say I like him with such half-hearted feelings."

Vicky scrunched her nose, bringing another forkful of lettuce to her mouth, thoughtful.

 _This shit is nasty,_ Vicky thought.

"Fuck Jasper. You've mourned losing him enough, and it's time to move on with your life. _He_ certainly has." Vicky pointed out; though she'd been in the dark about Bella's development with Edward, she'd been up to date with the Jasper situation. "Cullen seems like a good man. Why not give him a chance?"

Bella scratched her scalp.

"What if I do, and he turns out to be the best thing to ever happen to me, and then at the first sign of trouble he jumps ship? I don't think my heart could handle it."

It seemed wrong to stab the girl's hand with her fork, so Victoria settled for slapping the shit out of Bella's shoulder.

"Ouch! What the hell, Victoria?" Bella bitched, rubbing her sore shoulder.

Vicky glared.

"Don't even _try_ that sob fest shit with me, Isabella. That was my fear with James, and look how happy we are. Imagine how much happier I could've been so much sooner if I'd just put myself out there again. It took me like two years to give another guy a shot, and it was because of your ass of a brother. I mourned two years too many; I should've been out and about trying to find again another love of my life. Instead I was at home watching Gossip Girl _by myself_." Vicky scowled fiercely, scaring Bella a little bit. Vicky was a strong woman, but she was rarely so passionate. "James and I might end tomorrow, but I'm sure as hell never attempting to calculate a correct time for mourning your previous relationship again. I love James, but I also love being loved again. It's a wonderful feeling I deprived myself of for too long."

Vicky was heaving when she finished her rant.

She drank her orange juice, ignoring Bella's gaping face.

"You love James?"

Vicky blushed furiously.

"That was _not_ the point!" She fumed, trying to divert the attention from herself.

"Then what was?" Bella teased, flinching back when Vicky made a gesture that told her she was dangerously close to getting slapped again. "Fine, fine. You're right though. I've enjoyed being single again, but..." Bella sighed, leaning forward again. "It's actually closer to eight months since I've been in a happy relationship. I miss caring about someone and someone caring about me. I think..." Bella licked her lips nervously, having never admitted this to herself previously. "I think I want to care... about Edward. I think I want him to contribute to my happiness."

And that was as close as Bella would get to her real feelings.

* * *

"Rie, get off of your lazy ass and _do_ something!" Mrs. Swan barked at her daughter over breakfast, who'd been lazing around the house all Sunday and Monday.

"Ma, it's my last week of vacations. Let me _not_ do anything for once!" Bella whined. It was Tuesday already, and the butterflies in her stomach were becoming carnivorous real quick. Her date with Edward was two days away, and the nerves were threatening to break her at the seams.

"That's all you've done all vacations. At least shower, Isabella. You haven't done that much since Saturday," Mrs. Swan said, disgusted.

That wasn't even her record.

"Fine, fine," Bella acquiesced, in the meantime considering if she'd actually go through with her promise. She was about to say something else when she got a text from Angela, saying to meet up. "Oh, new plans. Going out with Ange at two."

Renée nodded, eyeing Bella's new phone; she hadn't been all that pleased by the gift, but when Bella had explained the arrangement, she'd been placated. Not thrilled, but not insistent in her displeasure, either.

She was one of the handful of people in her life that didn't know she was going to go on a date with Edward Cullen, the rest being her dad, her brother, Jasper and Alice, and the two last would never find out from her mouth if she could help it. Besides; they weren't really in her life anymore.

She figured if these people knew from the beginning dating the guy would be that much more difficult.

"Good," Renée dropped a kiss on Bella's forehead. "Let me know when you're headed out and when you arrive with her. I'm off to work."

Bella dutifully nodded.

"Have a good day, ma."

Time until one thirty was spent lazing around, then reading some manga and finally showering. When she got out of the shower and stepped in front of her dresser she realized she had a huge problem.

She didn't know what to wear for the date.

Lunging for her phone, Bella fired off a text to Edward.

 **Where are we going for our date?** —B

 **It's a surprise.** —E

 **I hate surprises.** —B

 **Tough luck. You'll like this one, I hope. Why do you want to know?** —E

 **I don't know what to wear.** —B

 **Dress comfortably. Also, sucks.** —E

 **Sucks?** —B

 **Typo. Socks.** —E

Yeah, she wasn't all that thrilled by autocorrect. She hadn't yet figured out how to disable it.

 **Also, where do you want to eat? I thought you'd want to choose.** —E

Bella replied excitedly.

 **PF Chang's!** —B

On his end, Edward chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm. He knew letting her choose was the right call.

 **Alright. McDonald's it is.** —E

 **You don't amuse me, old man.** —B

 **Old man? In my days, younger people were more respectful!** —E

Bella burst out laughing at Edward's ridiculousness. She got three successive texts from him then.

 **Anyway, gotta get back to work.**

 **Behave.**

 **See you Thursday.** —E

Smiling, remembering she was dripping water onto the carpet, she sent back one reply.

 **See you then** —B

Twenty minutes later, she was seated in her usual seat at Johnny Rocket's, asking their usual server for the usual meal.

She was reading manga, waiting for Angela, when the proverbial shit hit the fan.

Sort of.

"Bella?"

She looked up. It was Jasper.

 _Just like a fucking soap opera._

"Jasper." She acknowledged, then went back to her manga volume. This one, though, she'd had to buy herself. Couldn't keep borrowing from her ex.

"Can't we talk?" Jasper pleaded, sitting down in front of her without waiting for an answer.

"Well, you're apparently able to, given that gibberish _is_ coming out of your mouth." Bella snarled back, not tearing her eyes away from the book. However, he covered the manga with his big hairy hands, forcing her to look up at him to glare.

"You look better," Jasper tried, giving her an earnest look. He really wasn't looking for a fight.

"You do too," she bit back, unable to help herself. But he really did. "Almost as if the right woman put you back together."

His shoulders sagged. Maybe he wouldn't be able to talk to her in a civilized manner, like he'd wanted to.

"Bella..."

Taking a deep breath, she closed her manga volume.

 _Get your inner bitch under control, Swan._

"I'm sorry. I don't want you unhappy, despite everything. Despite how much you hurt me."

The statement hurt a lot more than anything else she'd said, and Jasper knew this time she hadn't meant to make a stab at him.

"I never meant to hurt you like this," Jasper beseeched her, wanting her to understand, to _know_...

But she already knew.

"And yet you did. You broke up with me for your own good, and then neglected me for your own good, all the while telling me it was for _my_ sake. The worst part was I believed you, like I've always believed in you."

This was where the problem lied.

It wasn't that he'd broken up with her, it wasn't that he was dating someone else. It wasn't that he'd neglected her for the last three months of their relationship, either, to the point where she didn't really consider them together anymore.

It was that she'd found peace in his words, that he broke up with her to not damage her, that he couldn't handle a relationship and caring for his dying father, that he didn't know when he'd be whole again... That he'd regret letting her go. She'd found solace in those statements, but they turned out to be lies. Apparently, he believed in Alice, and it hurt to not be believe in.

He hadn't even stayed her friend, and perhaps that's what hurt most of it all. Not the lies, not the betrayal, not the breakup... But that he had given her up when she needed him close.

Stricken, Jasper realized he couldn't deny her words.

"I didn't mean to. I thought..."

Bella looked up, thanking the server that brought her a chocolate milkshake.

"Did you really?" She asked quietly. "Did you really think you did _anything_ for me?"

He slumped.

"Won't you at least believe me when I tell you I loved you? When I tell you I was so in love with you, breaking up with you is the second most painful thing to ever happen to me?"

The first being his father's death.

She finally met his eyes. She hadn't wanted to, not wanting to give him access to the deepest part of her: her soul.

She saw a man she no longer recognized.

Perhaps he saw an unrecognizable woman, too.

She could only hope.

"The problem was never mistrusting you, Jasper Whitlock. The problem was I always blindly believed you alone held every truth I needed."

She let those words sink in, not following them up.

He cleared his throat.

"I see you finally got a smartphone." He finally said, not wanting the conversation to be over. He missed his best friend —somehow, Maria had really taken third spot in his heart. First was Alice, second was Bella, and third was her.

There was only a handful of people left in this world he cared about, and he really didn't want to reduce that number anymore than he had to.

"I did."

"Why?"

She looked down at her milkshake, slurping it. Her cheeks hollowed with the suction, and Jasper concentrated on the shadow that fell over her cheeks. Then she stopped and sat back, breaking his line of sight.

"How's Alice?" She asked instead, not wanting to explain. Her ex-boyfriend sighed and sat up straighter, feeling like his time with this girl was coming to an end.

"Nervous. Angry. Hurt. She thought you'd understand." He held up a hand, not being done talking. _I'm always getting shut up by Jasper and Edward,_ thought Bella angrily. _The only difference is I only care about what one of them has to say enough to acquiesce._

"Why would I have? _Should_ I have?" She snapped, doing her best to bring her volume down. "I don't want to be made out to be the bad guy. It's not _fair_ , Jasper."

It was childish. It was all she had.

Jasper relented.

"You're right."

Appeased, she mumbled out something. Not understanding, Jasper asked her to repeat herself, and biting her lip, she did.

"I'm sorry." She said, surprising Jazz. He, despite it all, hadn't been expecting it. "I might've been too harsh with her. I don't even know the whole story, but I took it out on her. That wasn't right of me, either."

His eyes lit up.

 _Maybe there's hope._

"I'll explain, Bella. I was—"

But Bella shook her head no.

"I don't want to know. Maybe some day I will, but right now... I just want to pretend none of it ever happened. _All_ of it."

He gave her a bitter smile.

"You want to pretend you never loved me?"

She shook her head.

"I want to pretend you never hurt me," she said softly, wanting him to understand, too. She didn't hate him; she didn't love him anymore, either. She couldn't. "And I don't know how to handle Alice. I thought she was my friend, but she doesn't feel like one anymore. Neither do you, for that matter."

His heart hurt.

"Bella, I..." he didn't know what to say. "Just promise me you'll hear me out some day."

She wanted to stick it to him. She wanted to deny him every request, she wanted to throw her milkshake on his face. She wanted to rip her chest open and show him exactly where he'd bruised her heart, show him how deep were the cuts.

As she thought this, she came to understand something important.

 _I'm gonna get over him._

Yeah, she was. He didn't deserve her self-mutilation, and he didn't deserve her anger. He deserved her forgiveness someday, because if she didn't give it, it would mean she'd never have let go of him. It would mean she'd spend the rest of her days resenting him, and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life thinking of him. She knew all of this because her heart wasn't shattered, it was bruised. It had paper cuts, not slices. She'd recover.

She didn't tell him this, though Jasper saw Bella's shoulders lift a little higher.

Her spine get a little straighter.

"Yeah," Bella said, watching Angela approaching with an angry look in her face, eyes zeroed in on the back of Jasper's face. "I will."

"Get the fuck out of my seat you asswipe," Angela barked, screeching to a stop next to her best friend's ex.

 _Sometimes, it's nice having a fearless best friend._

 _Alright, every time._

"Angela, nice to see you," Jasper said dryly, nonetheless getting up.

"Fuck you," she spat. "Also, my condolences about your dad."

She wasn't a _complete_ bitch.

"Thanks," he said, sliding out of the seat completely. "It really is good to see you though, Ange."

She glared, shoving him out of her way.

"Leave before I sucker-punch you into next week." She sat down, looking up at him with such seriousness he had a moment where he wondered just _how_ strong this little woman could be.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave," Jasper said, fixing his glasses. They were no longer his Harry Potter-like glasses, and instead were of some thinner metal. Probably Alice's influence.

Nostalgia swept through Bella before being washed away.

"Bye, Jasper," Bella didn't attempt to smile, but she didn't frown, either.

"Bye, Izzy," he said with a halfhearted smile.

As he walked away, she shouted something to his back.

"It's Bella to you!"

* * *

"Are you ready for our date?" Edward asked in a teasing voice.

He and Bella were talking through a What's App call, a feature Bella learnt of when she suddenly got a call from him one hour before the anticipated date.

"I guess," Bella faked a bored voice. "Any chance we could reschedule?"

"I'm going despite my broken nose. What's your excuse?" Edward countered, making Bella giggle. Fair point.

"I'm not desperate?" She guessed, and she could imagine him dramatically holding a hand to his chest.

"Well, then. We can take a raincheck." He joked, but when Bella asked when would be a good time, he lost his grin. "I was kidding."

"I wasn't." She deadpanned, and was about to laugh it off when she heard a crash on his side. "Edward? Are you ok? What was that?"

He groaned.

"That was me crashing into Ben. Fortunately, he's smaller than me and didn't touch my nose." She heard a fast voice speaking on the other end of the line —probably Ben— and then Edward apologizing for calling the boy small _and_ for crashing into him. "I bumped into him running out to the parking lot. I've really got to start paying more attention to my surroundings."

As a man that drove a bike and saved people for a living, this worried Bella a lot.

"Are you picking me up in your bike...?" Bella questioned, stopping when she didn't know how to continue.

"Car. I figured bikes aren't all that romantic for our first date, huh?"

Bella blushed.

"You're assuming I'll let you take me out for a second one?"

On his end, Edward came to a screeching stop next to his bike, the smile slipping off his face.

Shit. I barely scored the first date, how am I gonna secure the second one?

"Yes?" Edward flinched when his voice went up one note higher than usual. "I mean, you're gonna have a blast with me. You'll definitely want that second date. And third. And fourth. And—"

"I get it, I'll want many," Bella cut him off, laughing. "Alright, see you in an hour, Edgar."

He smiled in relief.

"See you then, Bell."

-.-.-

 _Jeans are ok, right?_ Bella surveyed her closet. He said comfortable, after all, and jeans were comfortable. She didn't need to dress particularly nice for the PF Chang's, either, so she wouldn't embarrass herself in the restaurant with shoddy clothing.

 _You can do this, Isabella._

And she did. Well, she tore apart her closet twice before settling on a lose white t-shirt with a rounded collar tucked into a black skater skirt and purple converse, but she did it. Foreseeing she could get cold, she also grabbed a purple cardigan and slipped on black tights (so she didn't really use socks per se). Then she piled her hair up into a high bun, chose studs that were of exclamation marks (she liked funny earrings) and paired that with an ankh necklace. Sometimes she could have a bit of a wanky dressing style, she supposed. Mascara and lipgloss followed as makeup, and voila.

She looked like a presentable human being.

 _Edward's gonna be so surprised._

She was done just in time, too, because that's when the doorbell rang. In a stroke of luck, her parents were still at work (it was only three, after all), so she didn't have to worry about the whole 'yeah mom I'm going on a date with _that_ Edward'.

Dancing over to the door, she opened the door with a cheerful smile when something was suddenly almost shoved into her face.

"Whoa!" She flinched back, and getting a better look, she realized she had a Cadbury chocolate in her face.

Looking at it with thrilled eyes, she snatched it away from Edward happily.

"What's this?" She chirped, looking at the chocolate lovingly. He chuckled nervously, thankful she hadn't blasted him for almost hitting her with a candy bar.

"Roses," he replied, and Bella finally tore her gaze away long enough to look at her date questionably. His face looked better than that photo he'd sent her; he still worse dressing on his nose, but the bruising wasn't so prominent anymore. It was becoming a nasty purple-red color, though. "You said once you don't like flowers, so I thought I couldn't go wrong with food."

 _A man after my own heart._

"That was really sweet of you," Bella smiled. "Although my favorite flower is the ghost orchid. It's practically extinct, so I don't actually expect you to ever give me one," she laughed, looking at his wide eyes. "Besides, I don't like receiving flowers. I never know what to do with them."

He nodded, filing the information for later.

"You look beautiful, by the way. I really like the earrings, too." He smirked, lightly touching her earlobes. She shivered lightly, not that he noticed.

"Thank you," she cleared her throat. "Are you ready to go?"

He nodded.

"You?"

She checked her purse; phone, house keys, wallet, lip gloss. Now chocolate. So, all of the essentials.

She gave him a thumbs up.

Smiling, he waited as Bella locked up the front door, then walked together to his car. Just like she'd expected from the last time she'd gotten in the car with him, Edward opened the passenger door for her, shutting it once she was in and then speed walking to the driver's side.

"So, where are you taking me?" Bella asked, wanting the surprise to be over with.

"You'll know once we get there," he flashed her a smile.

Huffing, Bella disconnected Edward's music from the car, and instead plugged in her phone.

'Kill em with Kindness' from Selena Gomez came on, and Bella gave him a shit-eating grin when he threw her an indignant look.

"You like Selena Gomez?"

She shrugged half heartedly.

"Not much, just like three songs. And I've got a hard limit on the Biebs, though. I like one song from him, though," Bella changed her playlist to the Elvis Presley one. "Better?"

" _Much_ ," Edward said enthusiastically, making her snort. "Elvis was the man."

"Freddy Mercury, too. And Michael Jackson. Also," she added when she saw him nod along readily. "Vanilla Ice."

He threw her a horrified look, making her cackle at her own evilness.

"You _really_ enjoy torturing me, don't you?" He whined, and she tried stifling her laughter. "You _were_ kidding, right?"

Still chuckling, she nodded. Yeah, she was.

"What do _you_ listen to in the car?" She challenged, not finding an iPod connected to the car. She assumed he used the music on his phone, which wasn't lying on the console.

"A lot of classical music, but not if it's after a long shift. I could fall asleep then. After a shift... it's gotta be Metallica," Bella showed him a face that looked like she'd swallowed down something sour. Laughing, he admitted he was kidding. "Fine, fine. I listen to Taylor Swift."

Bella waited for him to say he was kidding again.

He didn't.

"Wait, you're _serious_?" He nodded, not embarrassed by his music choice. "I can't believe it. Big bad Edgar?"

He shrugged in a 'what can you do' way.

She suppressed a smile.

"You'll be glad to know then I've got all of her albums. CD."

He threw her a wink.

"We'll have to listen to them later."

She laughed through her nose, sort of disbelieving this man could really like the artist.

"I thought you'd be one of those people who hate her." Bella admitted, watching as Edgar looked both ways before continuing on a right turn.

"I think she's a brilliant businesswoman. I'm also skeptical about pretty much anything that has to do with famous people, so I don't really take sides with that kind of things. And, really, I'm not looking to her for character development, you know?" Bella looked at him in surprise, and he caught it. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just that I pretty much think the same. Funny." Her lip twitched, and she looked away from him briefly before swinging her eyes back to him. "I saw Jasper on Tuesday."

She thought she saw Edward's knuckles turn white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

"And?"

She looked away from his knuckles, turning instead to look at the houses rushing past her.

"I remember Vicky telling me of something she said to my brother when they saw each other again last Halloween. He said to her he was sorry, and she told him bullshit, basically. She told him all she wanted was for him to tell her he was sorry one day, and for him to mean it." Bella rubbed her fingers over her chin, thinking. "I felt the same way when I saw Jasper."

Edward nodded in understanding, but Bella wasn't done.

"I also realized..." Bella hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should tell this to her date, but then figured: fuck it. It's Edward. "That he didn't even deserve all my anger and my hurt. I'm done wasting all that energy on him. I'm ready to start diverting it toward better things."

She saw Edward smile so wide she thought his smile was gonna split.

"Like me?"

She rolled her eyes.

" _School_ , Narcissus," she laughed when his smile turned into a frown; for a moment, she thought of the relationship between her mother and father. Maybe she was destined to also be the sadist in the relationship, and Edward the masochist. Then again, Edward talked back a lot more than her father. "I'm kidding. Yes, like you, Edwina."

It would've been a lot sweeter if she'd dropped the nickname, but Edward knew she meant it.

"I should start calling you something you really don't like, like... Isabelle. I could call you Isabelle."

"But I'm Isabell _a_ ," Bella retorted, confused.

"And I'm Edward, but that doesn't stop you from calling me things like Edgar and Edwina, right?" Suddenly, his eyes shone brightly.

Shit; he'd gotten an idea.

"Oh! Wasn't Edgar Collins's wife Idabelle Swain?" He asked smugly, looking at his date out of the corner of his eye. "I could call you Ida."

Or not.

"I think Idabelle also had Marie as middle name didn't she? I could cal you—"

"Do _not_ call me Rie, Cullen," Bella squinted at him, trying to convey her displeasure. "That nickname is solely reserved for the three people in this whole wide world who have seen me in diapers."

When they were old and crinkly, Edward would turn to his wife with a twinkle in his eye, and ask:

 _"I've seen you in diapers now, love. Can I call you Rie?"_

And she would laugh and say yes, decades later.

"Fine, fine, Idabelle it is then," Edward sighed dramatically, switching gears. She only noticed now that the car was semi-automatic, and he was currently driving stick. Huh; she'd have to ask him later if that's how he preferred to drive. "Actually, no. Queen Ida. Wanna be my queen?"

She laughed, thinking to how often she'd been accused of being cheesy, and here was a man who was even worse than her.

"Sure. Just letting you know though, I don't plan on making you my king. That ok?" She teased, and they spent the rest of the ride in much the same fashion -teasing, laughing, and being cheesy.

"You brought me to the Japanese Art Museum?" Bella asked excitedly, buzzing in her seat.

Edward smiled, thankful that he'd at least get this right, if nothing else.

"Yeah. I figured you'd like it," Edward said, and Bella acknowledged that he'd figured completely right. She didn't tell him she came here at least once every two months, being a total geek; she liked coming here a lot, and didn't mind at all repeating it.

However, she was betrayed at the museum's ticket window.

"Hey Bella!" Pam, the lady in charge of selling the tickets, greeted. "Back for more?"

Sheepishly, Bella waved.

"Hey Pam. I brought company this time, though." She motioned at Edward, who was currently eyeing her with a pout.

"Oh, who's _this_ handsome young man?" Pam fanned herself jokingly, readying two tickets.

"He's my flavor of the week," she winked, laughing at Edward's indignant 'hey!'. "Edward, this is Pam, my favorite ticket lady."

"Pleased to meet you, Pam," Edward rumbled, and the poor woman flushed deeply from the man's voice.

Edward seemed to have that effect on women, Bella noticed.

"Oh, pleased to meet you too, sweetheart. You two have a wonderful time together," she smiled, receiving a twenty from Edward. "Treat this girl well, you hear me? You must be special for to be here with her, though, huh? You're the first boy she brings in the three years she's been coming here." She handed him the change.

"Pam!" Bella whined, feeling her own face heat up. "You're giving me away."

"Oh, shush, you. Let me live vicariously through you," she laughed, winking at the couple, and then sent them on their way.

"So, I'm the first you bring with you?"

Bella thought about not answering, but figured she could try to be a bit more honest.

"Jasper was never a fan of museums. The one time we went to one for a school trip he bitched the whole time that it was boring. The only thing he likes watching for hours on end is movies," Bella rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

They got in the brief line that was being held up to enter the museum.

"I'm more into antique expositions, myself. I like historical stuff more than art." Edward admitted, not wanting to be deceiving about that. "But I like the occasional art museum."

Bella looked up at him, thinking of how thankful she was that he'd taken her someplace he thought she wanted to go to, instead of someplace he wanted.

"Thanks for bringing me," Bella bumped her shoulder into his arm. "I come a lot because I love it."

He sagged a little bit in relief, the nagging that had been growing in the back of his mind the last two minutes finally decreasing a bit.

"Good. I'm glad."

They stayed in the museum for two hours, and they only left because the place was about to close in ten minutes. Bella had spent the whole time admiring pieces of work and speaking of what she knew about them, and Edward had spent his time listening to her talk with the occasional input of what he thought of a painting. Mostly, he just had funny comments to make, poking fun at one aspect of the painting or of the author; Bella knew he was actually paying detailed attention, though, having commented several leit motifs in the painters' artwork. And despite how much he joked around, he actually shut up to listen whenever she had something to tell him about a certain work.

A few times, Edward had glanced down at Bella's free hand, thinking of how nice it would be to grab it, but then she'd need it to point at something, or to grab a brochure, and he'd miss his chance. Sometimes he swore she was doing it on purpose, and other times she had such a clueless face he knew she hadn't known of his intentions.

Truth was she didn't.

When they were walking to the car, Edward thought of how easy it would be to just swing an arm over her shoulders. She was just the right height, too.

"So, can you hold out an hour more or so until dinner?" Edward asked, opening the car from the distance.

Bella cocked her head to the side.

"I can if I eat some of the chocolate you brought me. Why?"

"There's another place I want to take you to." He explained, giving himself a pat on the back for his foresight of bringing Bella food.

"I'd ask where, but I have a feeling you wouldn't answer," Bella said, thanking him when he opened the passenger's door for her. She could get used to this treatment. While Edward rounded the car, Bella took out the candy bar, having ripped it open by the time he slipped into his seat.

"You feel right," Edward agreed, turning on the car. He turned to Bella, opening his mouth and putting his seatbelt on at the same time.

"Can I help you?" Bella arched an eyebrow.

"You aren't gonna share?" He gave her his best puppy dog eyes, which were in stark contrast with his manly... well, everything. Sighing dramatically, Bella broke off one row of chocolate squares, then bit off two, giving him a chocolatey smile as she offered a lone square.

Not amused, Edward paid her back by almost biting off her fingers.

"Ew!" Bella laughed, wiping her slobbered digits on her tights. "You're nasty."

"And you're bad at sharing food," he countered, putting the gears in reverse. Feeling benevolent, she waited for him to reach the stop sign to offer another chocolate square. " _Another_? For me?"

She huffed.

"Not if you're gonna be a smartass about it."

Chuckling, he accepted another square of chocolate.

"Thanks,"

"Thank _you_ ," Bella said, swallowing down her own pieces of candy. "I had a lot of fun in the museum. It's nice going by myself, but it's much nicer going with someone."

 _Going with you._

She didn't say that, but somehow, she knew that Edward understood.

"Well," Edward said, not taking his eyes off the road. "I _am_ a pretty great someone."

* * *

 **Poor Edward. He can't catch a break, can he? Well, he could, technically, but I'm having fun making him so awkward. Also, Bella's musical taste is my own, and... I also happen to really like Taylor Swift's music. Please don't think of me poorly; I already lack support for my musical taste in my own home. I couldn't take it if my favorite readers also hated on me because of it. Lol. Also, please don't think I'm a mega fan, because I'm really not a mega fan of anything, which makes me feel bad when people ask me if I know this song or that of a musician. It's also why I don't go to concerts; I went to Aerosmith recently, and was forced to acknowledge I knew only like 30% of the songs. Same has happened to other concerts I've gone to. Fun fact, it's also why I don't buy shirts of bands; I feel like I'd bond with someone over our love for an artist and three years later I'd be forced to admit I only knew like five songs. Inane rant over.**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. Shoutout to Idabelle Swain! She makes such a cute couple with Edgar Collins. :'D**

 **P. P. S. I swear one of these days I'm gonna start crying over the amount of support I receive from you. Believe me when I say for like nth time that every favorite, follow and review puts a smile on my face. Sometimes it's a smug one (what?), most times it's an 'I am overcome by feelings but I must chill cause I'm in public' one. Anyways, thanks to all the readers that take the time to write out a review, favorite and follow _The Road To You_. I try to reply to all of you as soon as I can, and I'm sorry if I haven't. To the unlogged users that leave such wonderful reviews: thank you. I'd love to tell you this directly, but well, sorta can't. Thanks for your support, sincerely. All of you help me want to give my best for this story. :)**

 **P. P. P. S. I'm going to try to get as many chapters done as soon as I can. Vacations end for me on Wednesday, and I sincerely doubt I'll keep up the weekly-ish update thing I've got going. I've got chapter 10 done, and chapter 11 is like... one seventh done. I might finish it today or tomorrow. I'd still have chapters 12 through 15 though to make (though I've jotted down what I mean to do, which is amazing progress for me). So, next week when I post chapter 10 I'll let you know if I'm behind or ahead.**

 **I'm sorry. I promise next author's note won't be as long. I get excited. :P If you notice, 80% of what I write here is usually stupid shit, 10% loving you guys and being emotional, 10% explaining my update schedule.**


	10. Back to Basics

**I actually finished the next chapter when I said I would, and I got super excited about chapter 12 so that's done, too. Chapter 13's in the works, and I might- no spoilers, me.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Twilight isn't real. Then again, is it really?**

* * *

The first day back in college had Bella wanting to crawl into a hole like an ostrich.

No, actually, it had her on the verge of faking appendicitis just to get the fuck out of there... and maybe end up in the ER when Edward was on shift.

 _Edward Anthony Cullen._

Yeah, she'd finally thought to ask him his middle name during dinner, given that when she'd sneaked a peek at his driver's license she'd somehow missed it.

Thinking of the date made the first two classes bearable. You know, before she had class with Alice on third period.

Not wanting to think of what was to come within the next five minutes, Bella reverted to thinking about the date.

* * *

"You brought me to a bowling alley?" Bella laughed. "So _that's_ what the socks were about!"

"Yeah. I thought you'd like it." Edward said, running a hand through his hair. "So, do you?"

"Are you kidding me? My friends and I go bowling once every six months at the very least," Bella smiled, thanking the man who handed her a pair of number sevens.

"Is there anything you _haven't_ done around this city?" Edward groaned, a part of him wishing he could've taken her somewhere new and exciting. Instead, he'd have taken her places she liked... from repeated experience.

"Uh..." Bella poked her bottom lip out, thinking. "Opera?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Only _once_ , and it was a long while ago." Bella defended herself. "I also found it kinda boring."

Figured.

He accepted his own pair of shoes, which Bella numbered as 'Yeti sized'. Taking their own shoes with them, they headed to alley number ten, next to a group of people a bit older than Bella that were causing a ruckus.

Ignoring them, Bella and Edward programmed their names into the machine.

First was Idabelle, then was Edwina (Bella wanted to mix it up a little bit).

Bella also programmed the bumpers for her turn, something that Edward took with a nice smile.

This was, however, until Bella's second strike and third split.

Edward was losing by a long shot.

"That's not fair! You've got the bumpers on when you shouldn't!" Edward complained, motioning to Bella's high score. She shrugged.

"It's the mental aspect. I need it as backup."

Edward kept complaining though until Bella relented and turned off the damned feature, which caused her to miss completely two turns in a row.

Turning to give him a vicious glare, Bella told him with her eyes: See?

He did, so he gave her back the bumpers.

"You did _what_ , Nadel?" They suddenly heard someone yell in the lane next to them; startled, they saw a tall white-haired boy holding a hand over a frizzy redheaded girl's mouth, who flushed when she saw she was being watched.

Grinning sheepishly, the girl and boy spoke in hushed voices to the rest of their friends. In the time it took Edward and Bella to finish the round, the people next to them had already been herded out and were long gone, leaving no sign of having ever been there.

In the end, Bella agreed to do one round without bumpers at all, with the condition that she'd use them during the last one. Edward agreed, but warned he'd be insufferable about it for as long as he could.

He was severely limited by an angry twenty-year-old slapping the shit out of his shoulder.

"One last round?" Edward asked, but Bella shook her head, slipping on her other shoe, the bowling ones already beside her.

"Nah, I'm actually sort of starving right now," she confessed, and just in time, her stomach rumbled. Whistling innocently, she averted her eyesight from Edward's as he took her shoes for her to return in the front.

"Me too. Come on, before it gets worse and you decide to eat something inedible," Edward let her hang back as he gave back the rentals and paid for the alley.

As they headed out, ready to go eat, they heard a distinct screech from one of the workers:

"Who the fuck _punched through_ the wall?"

* * *

Bowling had been incredibly fun, even though Edward had been sour about not being able to take her anywhere she wasn't a regular at. Also, despite Edward's outrage over her use of bumpers. She'd been dangerously close to biting his head off after the seventh complaint about the damned thing, but when he'd seen one of her forehead veins pop, it'd been enough to warn him over the impending damage to his body parts if he didn't stop being annoying.

As Bella watched the students file into class, she thought of Edward dropping her off at home.

* * *

"Thank you for today, Edward," Bella thanked him sincerely, once they were idle in front of her house. "I had a great time."

After bowling, they'd made it to the restaurant in time for their reservations. Bella had tried abstaining herself, not wanting to burden Edward financially. Sneakily, though, he'd asked for things she'd wondered out loud about having, and got 'full' too quickly and gave half of almost everything to her.

Maybe this was what it was like dating an adult; maybe Jasper had just been that cheap. Bella offered at the museum, at the bowling alley and at the restaurant to pay for something, but Edward was always adamant that he'd pay for everything.

Bella would have to think of activities they could do that she could pay for. She found it generous of him to pay for everything, but she also guessed he probably wasn't made of money.

"I also had a great time, Bella. You're sorta great company," he smiled widely, the corners of his eyes crinkling and a dimple appearing from how wide he smiled.

"I am," Bella agreed, making him chuckle. "You are too, I guess."

He turned the ignition of his car off.

"Can we do this again?" He asked earnestly, the dimple disappearing and crinkles fading; for some reason, Bella thought he was nervous. Did he really think she'd say no? After she'd spent the whole afternoon having more fun than she'd ever had on a date? It's not like she had a poker face, either; if she'd been having a bad time, it _really_ would've shown.

She didn't say any of this, though. Somehow, she didn't think her skepticism would be well-received.

"Yeah," she said honestly. "I'd really like that."

The smile that crossed his face made Bella think that for once she'd chosen the right words.

"Good. That's good," he licked his lips, looking at her shyly before glancing away. "I'm glad."

There was an awkward pause, during which Bella wondered what to say and Edward beat himself up over being such a dork.

"So—" they both said at the same time, then laughed as the awkwardness dissipated.

"Go ahead," Edward said, having not really had anything to say.

"I should go. My parents don't know I'm out on a date," Bella explained, then elaborated when she saw Edward's frown. "I plan to tell them sometime in the near future. It's just that... if they know, Em will know, and if my brother knows, he'll probably annoy the life out of us."

Edward could see how that would be a problem.

"I like living," he mused, watching Bella unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Text me when you make it come," Bella smiled, warming the doctor's heart in a way he thought only she was able to anymore.

"Alright," Edward said, and he would. He'd text her he'd survived the trip, and she'd reply to have sweet dreams, thinking of how he'd opened the passenger's door for her before dropping a light kiss on top of her head, driving away until she'd made it into her house.

To that, he'd cheekily text back he'd dream of her, not knowing he really would.

* * *

"Is this seat taken?" Bella was brought out of her musings by a classmate (Edyth, if she recalled correctly).

"No, go ahead," Bella removed her things from the chair next to hers.

"Thanks," the frizzy red haired girl—

"Oh!" Bella suddenly sat up straight, gaping. "You're that girl!"

Edyth blinked in surprise.

"What girl?"

"I mean, I didn't realize because you were far away, but I totally recognized you by the hair. I mean, it's sort of unique, ya know?" Bella blabbered, motioning to the long mane of red hair.

Edyth just kept her confused face in place.

"Um, what are you talking about?" Bella could see the girl making the mental effort to remember her name.

"It's Bella," she laughed light-heartedly, then checked herself when she finally thought to explain herself. "Edyth, right?"

She nodded.

Bella smirked.

"Your friend punched a hole through the bowling alley's wall, didn't he? Nadel, I think you called him."

Edyth went from confused to flaming red in seconds.

"Oh my God, you were there?" Edyth bit her lip, then snapped her fingers in a show of recalling. "Right! You were in the lane next to us, weren't you? With that handsome dude with a broken nose! My girl friends and I may or may not have talked about him."

Bella didn't even bother getting jealous; she figured she'd be getting comments like this for as long as she dated Edward Cullen.

"Yeah, Edward's really hot," Bella agreed easily enough. "Your friend Nadel's hole is pretty legendary. I assume he did it, right?"

Edyth persisted on being a bright red color, like a fire truck.

"Oh fuck, yeah. Nadel did it. He's got like a shit ton of extra testosterone and the temper —and fists— to prove it." Edyth said, rolling her eyes.

"He looks older than a sophomore. All your friends, actually." Bella noted, and Edyth nodded.

"They are. I'm actually a junior, but I take classes with you because of some issues I had with administration. My friends are a year or two older than me because of stuff like starting school later and their birthdays." Edyth smiled fondly, probably thinking of the group of people she was hanging out with. Bella felt a pang, suddenly missing her own gang of friends.

"Oh. You actually look my age, even a bit younger," Bella said, looking at the girl's rounded, makeup-less face.

They started taking out their notebooks and pens, knowing their professor would arrive any moment.

"Oh, I get that all the time. I've always had a baby face," Edyth smiled kindly, and Bella thought to herself she wished to hang around this girl this semester. She seemed very nice.

"I..." Bella began, but got sidetracked when she saw Alice come in the classroom. "Shit."

That's what Alice looked like, with dark bags under her eyes and glum-looking clothes. Despite how hurt Bella had been by the girl's actions, she didn't think that she deserved whatever was plaguing her. After all, it's not like Jasper had cheated on her with Ali, or like Alice had deliberately set out to hurt her (she hoped). However, standing up and going over to ask her what was wrong was easier said than done.

"Oh, isn't she your friend?" Edyth pointed at Alice, who'd taken a pained look at Bella before sitting in the other side of the classroom. "You were joined at the hip all year, weren't you?"

Bella gave the girl a halfhearted smile.

"Yeah. We sorta had a fallout during the break, though." Bella shrugged, not really willing to get into details.

Enlightenment crossed Edyth's face before sympathy settled.

"Oh, well. I hope you two work out your differences. I noticed you two because you were always laughing when you sat together," Edyth explained, watching her desk partner's bleak face. She didn't think the girl realized just how sad she'd looked the moment her friend walked in the room.

"Yeah, me too." Bella said, and she meant it. Maybe she'd punished Alice enough for a situation she didn't completely understand.

Then again... pride.

-\o/-

"So, you're thinking of forgiving her?" Angela asked the next day, stuffing her face with salad. Apparently, she'd gained like ten pounds in the last year, and she attributed that to all the Johnny Rocket's outings with Bella; that, coupled with their waning economy meant that they were choosing to eat at a nearby food court's salad bar instead (not Bella and Vicky's usual place, though, because that felt like cheating).

"Yeah," Bella gulped down some water. "I feel bad for her, ya know? She looked like shit."

"You think she and Jasper are fighting or something?"

Bella cocked her head, stabbing at some lettuce.

"Could be. But when Jasper and I spoke on Tuesday, he didn't seem to be upset with her or anything. If they fought, it must be recent."

Angela snapped her fingers and pointed at Bella with a knowing face.

"Bet it was Mary Jane. She's probably trying to break them up and winning."

Bella bit her lip, then cocked her head to the other side.

"You think? Alice isn't a pushover. One time some chick tried pulling the 'that's my seat' bullshit and Ali ripped her a new one over that. I don't think she'd let Mary Jane or Mrs. Whitlock get in the way."

They kept thinking way too hard about something they had no way of answering by themselves.

Eventually, they got sidetracked though.

"So, have you talked to Cullen since your date?" Angela wiggled her eyebrows, looking way too excited over her best friend's love life.

Bella nodded, adding more pepper to her salad.

"Yeah, on Friday he called me, but he woke me up so I sort of... hung up on him." Bella mumbled, thinking that wasn't her brightest moment. "I tried calling him back but it kept going straight to voice mail. Then I got a text at like ten at night saying he'd been really busy all day, but that he'd call me on Saturday."

She gulped down more water, attempting to ignore her friend's expectant face.

"And then?"

"He called me on Saturday."

Angela glared.

"What?"

"Elaborate, you bitch."

Bella sighed, laughing inside at Angela's antics.

"He called me after lunch, probably hoping I'd be awake by then. No such luck though, but I didn't hang up on him since I wasn't that sleepy, anyway. We talked a bit about his day on Friday, and then we discussed a bit the latest—"

"Skip the geek stuff," Angela snapped, knowing where the conversation was headed.

She was either psychic or she'd heard the same story one too many times.

"And that was it. He sent me a good luck text yesterday morning, and I sent him a good night one. Repeat today."

Angela's mouth hung open.

"You'll catch a fly."

"What about the second date? Didn't you talk about that?" Ange practically screeched, having only a quarter mind not to.

"Not yet," Bella admitted sheepishly. "He's been swamped, and I've been..."

Busy sleeping.

Anyway.

"So, we haven't really talked about it. It's in my to do list, though." Bella swore, and Angela wondered at how cheesy and yet unromantic a person could be. This girl wasn't thinking about anyone 24/7, like she did when she was in love. Bella thought about the boys she liked maybe 2/7, and Angela didn't know how to feel about that, as a third party.

Meanwhile, Edward thought about Bella every free moment he had. Not _every_ moment, because he had half a mind not to think about the girl he liked while he was stitching up a kid. However, he _was_ thinking about her and things she'd said and when they'd meet with increasing frequency. He liked the twenty year old in a way he hadn't liked anyone in roughly ten years.

In fact, he couldn't remember liking _anyone_ as much as he liked Isabella Swan.

And it wasn't even love yet, although he could see himself easily falling for her.

Thinking of her only made him realize he hadn't actually secured that second date with her, and taking advantage of his break (alright, he was hiding out in the staircase), he called her.

"Were your ears ringing?" Bella teased, putting down her fork. She was almost done, anyway, and Angela was nowhere near finished with her own plate. If Bella hated salad, Angela gagged on it.

So when Ange stopped eating to listen in on her conversation, Bella just motioned at her to finish eating.

Pouting, Angela did as told.

"Huh? Why?" Edward sat down on the first step he found. "Were you talking about me?"

"In a way," Bella focused her gaze on her salad. "We were just saying I should've aimed higher. Gone for a hospital director instead of a lowly pediatric doctor."

"Ouch. I can still introduce you to Dr. Powell, you know, if you want him that bad. Maybe his wife and kids will have a problem with that, though."

"Damn," Bella sighed. "Never mind. I'm not a home wrecker, although I should slip him my number in case he ever divorces her," Bella winked at Angela, who was busy glaring at her for the bad jokes. "What's up, Edgar?"

"Oh, well, I'd called to see if you wanted to have that second date with me, but I can see your interest in me only went so far. That's fine, I can still see if Nurse Cheney wants to hang out."

Bella burst out laughing.

" _Hang out?_ Oh Dr. Cullen, I'm sorry, but she wants to do much more than that," Bella chuckled, and she could only imagine Edward pouting. Before he could answer, she continued. "But yeah, I can check my busy schedule to see if I can fit in our second date."

"Oh, good. I'll squeeze you in between an LP and an explorative laparoscopy," Edward joked back, then cleared his throat when Bella just blanked. A what and a what? "Too soon for med jokes?"

" _Way_ too soon. I know you said things, but I have no idea what they are. I'd love to hear an explanation," Bella interrupted quickly. "But maybe you should leave that for when we meet. I doubt I'll get it from a phone conversation."

It made sense, Edward supposed.

"How does Thursday sound? I think it's a good day to go out," Bella suggested.

"Aren't you going to go back to the gym with me?" Edward questioned, thinking of how they hadn't gone since the week he asked her out.

"Is your nose all healed up?"

Right. That was why.

"No," he grumbled, touching the sore thing. He still had about a week left using the dressing, though the bruising was already healing nicely.

"Then we won't go to the gym. I need to show you support somehow, and this is it," Bella said smugly, liking very much that she'd have almost three weeks off from exercising. She liked being fit, but she liked not doing anything more.

"You're so kind," Edward deadpanned. "Alright, Thursday it is. I get out of work at five, so how does six sound?"

"I also get out of class at five, so it sounds perfect."

"Great. I've already got in mind what we're gonna do, so... wear jeans."

Bella smiled foolishly, and Angela wondered if she'd ever seen her best friend smile like this. So... lovestruck, maybe?

"Are you gonna tell me what to wear every date?"

Angela shot Bella a 'what the fuck' look that she ignored.

"Maybe. Isn't it easier this way though?"

Yes, it definitely was.

"A little bit. I've still gotta choose the rest, though." Bella pointed out, not wanting to give in.

"So do I. My closet consisting of the same five shirts in different colors is beside the point," Edward said, and Bella let out a burst of laughter.

"You're hilarious," she deadpanned, but she actually meant it. She laughed a lot when she was with him, something she'd always appreciated. "See you on Thursday."

Edward smiled, standing up.

"See you Thursday."

* * *

"So, is _this_ the reason for wearing jeans?" Bella asked, motioning to Edward's bike.

He'd pulled in at the Swan household at six on the dot, and Bella had shot outside like a bat out of hell. Her dad wasn't at work this time, and her mother was due back any moment, which meant she couldn't let Edward ring the doorbell. It would be too much of a hassle to explain what he was doing there, what with this only being their second date and all. A part of Bella knew they would probably date for a while (more than a while, she'd find out later on), so she had mixed feelings about not telling her parents from the start. Still, nothing in her wanted Emmett finding out (ever, if she could have it her way, and she wouldn't), and the sooner her parents knew, the sooner her brother would find out and freak.

Digressing.

"Yeah. Didn't think you'd want to ride in a skirt," Edward smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He wasn't trying to be sweet; he just found astray hair annoying, being a perfectionist.

"Well, you were right, for once," Bella teased, thanking him as he handed her a helmet. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Trying to hide me?" Edward asked, getting on his bike. He shivered when Bella got on behind him, putting her arms around his waist.

"Yeah. That nose of yours will spook anybody," she teased, and her laughter was carried away by the wind as Edward sped away from her house.

-.-.-.-

"Wow," Bella gaped at the view in front of her. Edward had brought her to a little clearing, tucked away in the middle of nowhere but resting high up on a mountain, giving them a perfect view of the town. They were about a mile from a diner, and Edward had promised that at sundown they'd head back to eat.

"I know," Edward looked out at the view as well. "I found this spot when I got lost driving a few years back. I've been coming back here whenever I can. It's my favorite spot in the city."

Bella gave a soft, lost smile.

"Thanks for bringing me here."

Edward didn't answer; he didn't think he had to.

They sat down on the grass, uncaring about their jeans. Bella brought her knees to her chest, and Edward mimicked her.

"Hey, Edward?"

He hummed, letting her know he was listening.

"Thanks for liking me," she said, not taking her eyes off the front. "I think it's the best thing that might happen to me."

Edward didn't look at her, either.

"Thanks for letting me like you," he said, and though there was a lot more he wanted to say, he held himself back. Maybe now wasn't the time.

The time to tell her about this feeling he had about their future.

Their time at the clearing was spent talking about small things and big things. Edward told Bella about how he was giving himself a couple of years before starting the fellowship program in Emergency Medicine, since he wanted to just be a pediatrician for a while. Get the hang of it. He also gave her that explanation he owed her about the LP and the explorative laparotomy; though she tried her best, she didn't think she quite got the full explanation. Bella talked about wanting to do a Masters-PhD program that would take about four years after getting her undergraduate degree. She wanted to go to Japan, and she wanted to use the experience for her thesis. She'd done some part time jobs most of high school as well as summer jobs, all of which had been stored for her trip. She was thinking of taking up some light work again, though, knowing she'd probably need more money.

"What do you want to do with your degree?" Edward asked her at one point.

"I want to be a professor," Bella confessed. It was a dream she rarely spoke of, because people hardly ever asked. "I want to pass along my love for Japan to other people. I'm of the opinion that tolerance and respect to other cultures starts with being interested in learning of ways that aren't your own. I was the typical person that said all Asian people looked the same, for instance, until I started watching Korean dramas and comparing them to Taiwanese or Japanese dramas, for instance. I started learning of a new culture, and I found it fascinating. I want to convey that awe to other people, and help in whatever way I can to spread love for learning and awareness of cultural differences."

Edward thought that was a great dream to have.

"I don't think I like it nearly as much as you do, but I'm glad you love it so much."

Bella blushed.

"I'm glad I found what I'm passionate about. Too many people wander through life not knowing what road they're walking or where they're headed." Bella pondered, stretching her back briefly before laying down completely on the grass. As always, Edward followed. "I mean, I don't know _exactly_ where I want to be ten years from now. All I know is I want to be happy, and right now _this_ makes me happy, so I think I'll want to keep doing it for as long as I can. Maybe I'll change my mind, but maybe I'll die talking about Oda Nobunaga."

She would, to spite her husband and children. They'd curse her for being a geek until her last breath, not knowing her last thought wasn't of a Japanese warlord, but of them.

"Yeah," Edward echoed. "Maybe you will."

This was followed by a comfortable silence, which was only broken by Bella turning to lay on her side.

She watched Edward's handsome profile, wishing the bruises made him less attractive, but they really didn't. Feeling watched, Edward turned to look at Bella, catching her in the act. She didn't flinch.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just looking."

He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Like what you see?"

"Yeah," she said honestly, for once not blushing at her forwardness. "I do."

He turned his whole body so he was also laying on his side, watching her.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Bella asked. "Because it's cool if I am."

Edward laughed.

"No, you're not, though I know you mean that." He said, thinking of how her love for making others uncomfortable hadn't resurfaced in a while. "What are you thinking about?"

She sighed, still not taking her eyes off of him.

"How surreal this feels. It's like I met you three days ago, broke up with Jasper yesterday and am dating you today. I know that it's over-simplifying things, but a part of me feels like this. Another part feels like I met you years ago and have been dating you for months. Time's weird that way."

Edward's expression didn't change, for good or for bad.

"I think as you get older time slips by faster, when you think back on it. As for us..." Edward trailed off, not wanting to continue but feeling like he had to. "I think it's not that weird. I sorta feel that way sometimes, too, but I also don't know enough about you to truly say I share your thoughts."

They shut up for a while, listening to the silence surrounding them.

"I really like you, Edward. I just thought you should know... you're not a rebound for me. I'm not dating you for any reason other than that I want to." Bella said after a while, and Edward thought his face would split in half from how big he was smiling.

"I really like you too, Bells." Edward said, reaching a hand out and placing it on her cheek. It was soft, and warm, and fit his palm perfectly.

"Good," Bella said, and in a way that was way too forward for her, leaned to give him a kiss.

Edward caught it, wanting for it to last longer. She was shy, and so her kiss had been soft, only a light breath exchanged between them. Edward had no such inhibitions, and returned her light touch with an open-mouthed kiss, rolling so he was on top of her, elbows on the ground, hands under her head and hips pressed together.

"Edward..." Bella breathed; this was a bad idea, because this meant she now lacked air for her next kiss. She felt her upper lip get sucked in, then felt a small bite, followed by a shooting tongue. She could've enjoyed more if not for that damned need to breathe that propelled her to turn her head to the side, gasping.

"You ok?" Edward smiled softly, watching the girl beneath him heave with her head turned to the side. He liked the view, though, and leaned down to give her neck a kiss.

Her heartbeat was all over the place.

Knowing it was probably too much too soon for a girl with relative inexperience, Edward rolled on his side so he was laying on the ground next to her. He laid out an arm and felt satisfied when Bella bent her head so he could tuck it underneath.

Gulping loudly, Bella finally spoke.

"I never thought I'd be cockblocked by my inability to breathe."

Edward laughed so hard at this Bella eventually thought he might need CPR —and not in the sexy way.

* * *

"So, you _don't_ want to come with me to Rose's birthday party?" Edward asked disbelievingly one week later, the Friday before Rose's thirty-first birthday. Her actual birthday had been two days after their second date, but because she'd been working that weekend she'd decided to change the celebration to next week. This meant that Bella and Edward had had two more dates (the movies, where they both fell asleep, and a hospital cafeteria date, where Rose joined them at the end), and things had been going really well.

Until Bella informed Edward via FaceTime she didn't want to go as his date to the annual BBQ.

"I told you already, Edgar," Bella insisted, not knowing whether to focus on her face or on Edward's. Time really had worked wonders on his abused nose, which had lost the dressing yesterday. "It's Rose's day. If we announce we're dating, it's gonna be all about us... in front of fifty other people I don't even know."

 _You would, if you hadn't run out with Jasper last year,_ Edward wanted to grumble, but he wisely didn't.

"But we won't announce it," Edward whined.

"We might as well, if I show up holding hands with you."

"We haven't held hands _once_!"

"It's been hot. I've been sweating a lot," Bella defended herself, being blunt as always.

"No you haven't. I always see you wearing a sweater."

"The point is," Bella barreled on. "I'll get there with my family. We could go do something else afterwards," Bella suggested, but Edward sulked.

"Can't. Rosalie always makes me help out after her birthday as part of my present."

"I could..." _Don't do it Isabella, don't suggest it. You hate it—_ "Help you with cleaning, if you want."

She held her breath.

Fortunately for her, he appreciated her suggestion enough not to make her act on it. Even on camera, he could see her going blue from the worry of being made to carry it out.

"Nah, that's fine." Bella released her breath, then took up ventilation again. "Why are you so against everyone knowing?"

Bella bit her lip, nervous about confessing this part. She didn't know if she'd have Edward's support or not.

"It's just... people can't help giving their opinion, you know? They'll have something to say about you and I. I think I just want to enjoy _us_ for a while before having to throw into the equation people's small-mindedness."

The camera moved, and Bella saw he was in a place that had bunk beds. Supposedly, he was on call and would clock out tomorrow at eight, then would rest until midday to head out to Rose's thing.

"I didn't think you cared about what people said," Edward pointed out. She shrugged.

"I find it incredibly annoying. And... you know I tend to overthink things. If I'm given half a good reason so early in our relationship to doubt this thing we have, I could spiral down. Especially if the person giving out reasons is my brother, and though I know he thinks better of you now, I don't know what he'll think when we date. I..." Bella's voice became small. "I don't want to doubt us. I want to be confident in us, but that kind of thing takes time. I know myself, and I know I need time to build counter arguments to fire back with."

Bella thought to how Jasper had asked her one year ago if she'd break up with him because Emmett didn't like him. She'd answered that obviously not, but she'd known that even so many months into the relationship, she'd consider it. She'd only been dating Edward for two weeks, but already she knew she'd fight Emmett as much as she had to until she accepted Edward. The thing was, they weren't even official yet, and she wasn't about to go picking fights with her only brother for an unofficial relationship.

 _Maybe I should let Edward know all he has to do is ask me to be his girlfriend, and I'll let him meet my family in an official capacity._

Or not.

Luckily for her, Edward did know that Bella needed to think and think. He'd spent enough time with her to know she really did overthink things, and she always needed to analyze everything before being confident in her choices. He'd once seen her analyze what manga she'd buy, something she created a spreadsheet for. She and Excel were besties, he thought. He also saw her make one for her college classes, making three types of schedules that suited her best in the off chance that she couldn't inscribe one subject.

So all the doctor did was sigh and slowly nod.

"Fine, alright. I'll keep my hands to myself, I guess."

Blue balled couldn't even begin to cover it. _Would blue hearted do?_

* * *

"Bella, Mr. and Mrs. Swan! Hi!" Rose waved madly from her spot near the grill. The three had arrived bearing gifts ( _a_ gift, really), and were pleased to see that most of the guests had arrived, but not all. Arriving first was always boring, and arriving last was always awkward.

"Hey Rose," the three echoed with easygoing smiles. Over the last year, they'd really gotten to love Rosalie, to the point where even Mrs. Swan had stopped trying to intimidate the woman.

Charlie loved Rose so much that if she and Emmett ever broke up, he'd probably beg Rose to take his son back.

"Oh, you brought food?" Rose lit up, seeing the Pyrex covered with aluminum in Bella's hands. As they approached, they saw that Emmett was talking with Mr. and Mrs. Hale (though Bella didn't know that yet), and Edward was chatting up some old guy.

Bella smiled, finally reaching Rose.

"I made it for you. It's lasagna. If you tell Emmett that it has green peppers he won't eat it, and if you want to tell Edward this is turkey, you'll have all of this to yourself... for as long as it takes them to realize you lied." Bella handed off the Pyrex stealthily, making her parents chuckle and Rose lick her lips.

Lasagna was her favorite.

"Oh, I'm gonna lie my ass off if I can just have one bite from this. I'll go put it in the fridge," Rose smiled brightly, and as soon as she left, Emmett magically appeared.

"You made it!"

" _On time_ ," Bella finished, though it wasn't necessary. With her commandeering mother they were always on time.

 _Always._

"Oh, shut up," Em said with an insulting smile, coming up to his little sister and wrapping her tightly in his arms.

"Emmett Swan, I cannot breathe," Bella said through a wispy voice, then got let go of with a chuckle.

Em kissed his mother's cheek and hugged his dad.

"Well, I've gotta say I like much better the company this year," he said, looking at Bella pointedly. Whistling, she looked away ( _not_ in Edward's direction).

"Me too, son. Hopefully, this year someone doesn't storm off," Charlie said, and this time they all looked at the youngest Swan sharply.

"Oh, sure. Pick on the weak. Nice," Bella snarked, glaring at her brother. "Should I remind you why I stormed off last year?"

He sobered up.

"Point taken." He threw an arm around her. "Come on Rie, I've gotta introduce you to Rose's parents. They've been wanting to meet you."

"Me?"

"No, my other sister, the one we keep in the basement in case this one breaks," Emmett deadpanned. "Yes, _you_ , my only blood related sister. Unless...?" Emmett looked up at his parents, who shook their head. "Nope, we're good."

Bella was _not_ amused.

"Fine, you jackass. Let's go meet Rose's parents."

They were _nice_ people, in a way that almost grated on Bella's nerves. Almost, because although she tried convincing herself otherwise, she knew that they were genuinely nice people. Mr. Hale was a little on the short side, but with a really cool mustache and a Star Wars apron. He was already balding a little from the front, but it didn't take away from what had obviously been a really handsome face not long ago. Mrs. Hale, on the other hand, was tall, glamorous and beautiful, as were most of the other women in the party. She was the typical mother that kept asking if everything was ok, and if everything was to your liking, and if she could get you another glass of whatever you're having.

"Honestly, though," Mrs. Hale laughed. "Esme and I thought for the longest time that our children would marry each other, but when I met Emmett, I knew my Rose was a goner," Rose flushed bright red at this, having gotten back from putting away the lasagna at just the right moment.

"Mom!"

"What? It's true," Mrs. Hale kept going, obviously liking her story. "Oh, I'm sorry. Esme is my best friend, and Edward's mother. I'm assuming you've all met Edward, of course, given that he and Rosalie are always attached at the hip. She would've been here today, but apparently yesterday she and Carlisle had a bad case of food poisoning and couldn't make it."

 _Somebody dig a hole for me to crawl into_ , Bella and Rose both prayed.

No such luck, but a knight in shining jeans did appear.

"Clare, are you still pushing Rose and I together?" Edward suddenly appeared beside Bella, making her breathe out a sigh of relief. "I thought after these two dating for three years your hopes would really be crushed." Edward joked, motioning at Em and Rose.

"Well, I was just saying. Not that you aren't a great man for my daughter, Emmett, but you've got to understand this poor woman with chronic tunnel vision," Mrs. Hale laughed, and though Mr. and Mrs. Swan weren't fascinated by her joke, they could understand her.

"I'll be damned if I ever give Rose away," Em said with an easygoing smile, but everyone knew he really and seriously meant it.

"I don't want to go with Edward, either. He breaks easily," Rose pointed out, and since everyone was well aware of Edward's recent mishaps, they all laughed.

At him.

"Oh, sure. Let the lonely man be the butt of the joke," Edward faked being miffed (not really) before putting an arm over Bella's shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take this third wheel with me so we can socialize with other tragically single people," he said, and nobody (but Rose) gave them a second glance before waving them away.

Rose just wiggled her eyebrows before letting them walk away.

"I didn't know your mom and Rose's mom were so close," was the first thing Bella commented as they made their way to the plastic chairs by the pool, which were mostly vacated.

"Yeah, well. When she and I started hanging out, so did our mothers. Nobody was more heartbroken over Rose and Emmett's relationship than them," Edward said, and he was only half joking. They really had been insufferable for almost three years. He sat down in the chair next to Bella, and he noted that they'd been laid out so they faced the party and not the pool.

"I can imagine. It must've felt like when I root for the second lead in a Korean drama, but they inevitably end up with the first. It's tough," Bella sympathized, ignoring the look Edward shot her that said she was off her meds.

"Yeah, I can't imagine," Edward said in monotone, and Bella's lip twitched, but she held back her smile. "So, how did I do?"

"A for the smoothness, A- for talking about your singleness. We ain't exactly single and ready to mingle... are we?" She flicked a threatening look at Edward, who simply shook his head. "Good."

"You crazy."

"You taken," Bella sang smugly. "And by crazy, no less."

True, although now that Edward thought about it, he hadn't exactly asked her to be his girlfriend yet. Huh. Would you look at that...

He should get around to that. He figured it was a question Bella might appreciate.

"So, I saw you walk in with food," Edward began casually. "You made it?"

Bella shook her head.

"Mom did. I'd advice against eating it, though. She usually starts off on the right foot when making something, but invariably adds ingredients she shouldn't. This time, I think she mixed onions with custard and turkey."

This wasn't a complete lie. It had been done before, just not now.

By Edward's disgusted face, Bella knew he'd bought it though.

He'd find out eventually about the truth, but hopefully, Rose would've at least gotten a decent meal out of the lasagna.

"Hard pass on that. I'll keep patiently waiting for you to make me something else," he gave her an angelic look which she didn't buy for a millisecond.

"And what makes you think I'll cook for you again?" Bella defied, both knowing she was bullshitting no one.

"That—"

Edward got interrupted by a merry band of drunkards. You know, the little group in every party that took it upon themselves to booze up everyone else, even though it was only two in the afternoon and nobody had eaten much of anything. Bella hated the type, since most of them were quite persistent and only backed off given given certain excuses.

"Edward, my boy!" Bella saw a man who looked an awful lot like Mr. Hale approach Edward with a happy look on his face. He was holding a beer on one hand and a whisky on the other. "How do you do?"

"Uncle John," Edward greeted with a grimace. He liked the man, just... not like this.

"Why aren't you and this lovely lady having a glass of wine? Or beer? Or... what did I have here, honey?"

"Whiskey!" A plump woman piped up, and the rest of the merry band chortled at Uncle John's forgetfulness.

"Well, why?"

Yeah, he hadn't gotten the memo that Edward was a recovering alcoholic. No one had, actually, apart of a few select people.

"She's not twenty-one yet," Edward explained, which was a bad idea, because now all eyes focused on him and his lack of drinking.

"You've got to try the merlot, son, I'll be right back. It's so awful that you're here all sober on your day off from... Honey, what did Edward do?"

"Doctor!"

"Doctoring, right," Uncle John smiled goofily. Bella really wanted to like the man that was probably Mr. Hale's brother, but as it was, she just found him to be incredibly annoying.

"He can't," Bella intercepted the merry band. "He's on antibiotics. Poor guy got his nose infected when Rose broke it."

Bella spent the next five minutes explaining the tragic break, and how incredibly nasty it had been infected, and how he'd been pumped with antibiotics. This was the extent of Bella's medical knowledge, but one thing was for certain: even merry bands knew not to mess with medication.

So they bid goodbye to the drunkards, letting them go and try to to intoxicate other people.

"If you'd been a woman, I would've said you were pregnant," Bella said nonchalantly, making Edward shoot her an amused and grateful look.

"Thank you for that. It's hard to get people like that to back off." Edward said, then thought of something. "Sorry about that. I didn't know if you wanted to have a drink and said you couldn't. Do you want me to get you something?"

Bella blew him off.

"I don't like alcohol. Don't worry about it."

He gave her a skeptical look.

"You're sure? You're not just being considerate about me?"

Bella rolled her eyes.

"I've seen your self control. If I wanted a damned drink that badly, I'd have one. From my harsh dieting days, I know that when you've set your mind to not consume something, you do it. I also know it's much better to not have someone waving your choice of poison in front of you." Bella said, thinking of how much she'd appreciated her family choosing restaurants she could eat comfortably at, but also how guilty she's felt of depriving them.

"Just to be clear then, you sincerely don't like alcohol?"

Bella shrugged.

"I never wish I could have a drink, so I guess not. At most I like Bailey's ice cream, but it's usually way too sweet so I only steal a few spoonfuls from someone else." Bella said, completely honest. "Sorry you didn't get stuck with the stereotypical sorority girl that parties hard on Fridays," Bella said, winking to let him know she was kidding.

"Damn it," Edward sighed, and Bella could see it in his face how badly he wanted to kiss her right then. She knew it because she wanted it too. "Guess I'll conform with some crazy geek, then."

They both sighed dramatically, knowing there was no one they'd rather be dating than each other.

* * *

 **Your reviews make me so happy. I love how involved you all are in my story. :)) And I've noticed that I apparently did right by showing you snippets of Edward and Bella's future, so I'm glad you liked that. I sometimes forget to reply to some reviews, so if I didn't, I'm really sorry, but I promise I _did_ read it. I _always_ read all of them. **

**Leah.**

 **P. S. I actually _do_ have a friend who punched a hole through a wall in a bowling alley, and because we're horrible people we stealthily left. I wanted to feature him in the story, because he's so stupid for having done that, honestly. He's not called Nadel, but I do have a friend whose last name is Nadelsticher, and I thought, meh. Sorta giving him privacy. **

**P. P. S. Anyone else know who Edyth is?**

 **P. P. S. Happy Friday 13th! If you're the type that believes in bad luck today, then I hope this will counter it a bit. I've had three days of classes so far, and I feel today's actually been the only one I could withstand... even though I only had an hour of class and had to wait for a meeting for five hours. I could've gone home, but I'm a cheapskate and defensive of my parking spot.**


	11. You're The Hoe

**Please love me. In honor of me being about to start writing the Epilogue (yess go me!) I'll post today _TWO_ (" _Two_ , Leah?" Yes, two, dear readers) chapters, even though I posted on Friday. How's that? I know many of you were worried about them becoming a thing, so here it is, and a lot more. Leave me some love! :D))**

 **DISCLAIMER: You don't own me (sings). I don't own you either, or Twilight.**

* * *

"Bella."

"Bella."

" _What?_ "

"How could you?"

"How could I what?" Bella frowned, finally putting on pause the movie. They were watching _The Boy and the Beast_... a Japanese animated movie... in Edward's living room. It had been two weeks since Rose's birthday party, which meant that they'd been dating for three weeks. Well, sorta. They hadn't been able to see each other since then, because Edward had to stay helping Rose clean and Bella had some leftover research due on Monday. Since then, they'd extended the 'no gym' week thanks to Dr. Hale, who'd suggested Edward not work out a little longer (her delayed birthday gift to Bella). Because of this, all the interaction they'd had consisted of FaceTime and a few text messages. Neither was big on the phone, and Edgar didn't exactly lay around all day. Bella, well, she had other excuses.

"How could you give Rose _lasagna_ and then _lie_ to me about it being something weird?" He demanded to know, turning to look at her. They were sitting on Edward's couch with a bowl of popcorn in between them, their feet laid out on top of a low table and a blanket covering their legs.

He actually sounded rather offended, which both amused Bella and made her wonder if she should apologize.

"How'd you find out?"

"I went to Rose's apartment yesterday, and found your brother eating some. He said he had to find a new girlfriend, seeing as _she'd_ told him the Pyrex contained something with green peppers, which he hates. Coincidence? I think not. Maybe _I'll_ have to find a new girlfriend, too."

Bella's lip twitched.

"But you don't."

"Don't what?" Edward frowned, twisting his body a bit more to get a good look at her. This made the bowl of popcorn shift a bit, and foreseeing a spill, he grabbed it and put it on the table.

"Have a girlfriend. We're not official yet, right?" Bella asked innocently, and Edward's mouth dropped open.

"You're gonna make me ask?"

She shrugged.

"I'm not making you _do_ anything. I just figure it'd be nice to know whether you _want me_ want me, or if you're just _ok_ with me. I mean, we haven't even defined our exclusivity yet. Who knows? Maybe I've been meeting other guys on the side," Bella sniffled dramatically, not kidding either of them for a second.

Edward raised both eyebrows.

"Ok. Who else have you been meeting?"

She scrunched her nose up.

"No one," she grumbled. "But I could!"

"Would you though?" Edward countered, enjoying for once being the one with the upper hand.

"That's beside the point!" Bella snapped. "Don't you want us to be a thing?"

"No, I want us to be people."

Bella wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or to kill him.

Middle ground it was.

"Fine," she bit back, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him with everything she had. "Then I'll ask Jake."

"Then I'll ask Nurse Cheney."

"Fine!"

"Fine."

Bella put the movie back on, pissed he wasn't taking her seriously. But she wanted to be his girlfriend, damn it. She liked him so much already, and it didn't feel right to say he was _just_ the guy she was dating. He made her happy, fucking hell, and she wanted the tag to go along with it. She wanted the world (except Jasper and maybe Alice) to know she had a boyfriend, because that meant commitment. Dates were the middle ground between single and taken, and a boyfriend was the middle ground between taken and forever.

 _Yeah, I believe in forever. Fucking romantic hell._

So yes, Bella was pissed that Edward didn't seem to want to make them real. It felt like they weren't solid, even though she knew they were. Besides, and Bella would lose a finger before saying it out loud, but a physical relationship with the guy you were dating didn't feel as free as with your boyfriend. Maybe it was just her, but she felt like she had to ask Edward permission to touch him at this stage. With Jasper, she'd just done whatever she wanted whenever (if) she felt like it.

 _Ok, alright, I'm horny, too._

So she sighed and put the movie on pause again.

"Will you be my boyfriend, Jasper?"

Bella woke up with a start.

 _Oh thank God_ , Bella thought even as her heart galloped. _I didn't actually say that._

"Were you dreaming about Jasper?"

 _Shit fuck somebody shoot me right now._

She _was_ actually at Edward's place, and two weeks since they'd seen each other _had_ gone by. And, though it pained her to remember, the previous conversation _had_ actually happened, minus the part where she asked Edward to be her boyfriend with the wrong name. When she'd started back the movie, pissed, she'd fallen asleep, and now found herself with her head on Edward's lap looking up at him after having said her ex-boyfriend's name in her sleep.

"Oh my God," Bella whispered, face flaming. "Kill me."

"What?"

"Nothing," Bella said, turning her body away from him with a long sigh. "I'm sorry. I wasn't dreaming about him."

"Why'd you say his name, then?" Edward asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Again, out of perfectionism. "Were you trying to make me jealous?"

"Did it work?" She asked with faked enthusiasm, confirming for Edward his theory had been heard and denied.

"It did," he admitted, despite knowing that hadn't been her intention. "I don't want you to still be dreaming about him."

"I didn't," Bella insisted, getting up. Edward could see she had blanket marks on her cheeks, a mesh brow and smudged makeup. He found her adorable, though he wished she'd stayed where she was. "I was dreaming about..."

"About?"

Well, it seemed like she wasn't getting out of this.

"You." She grumbled, avoiding his eyes. "I dreamt I asked you to be my boyfriend, and I accidentally called you Jasper."

"Does your subconscious not like me or something?"

"My subconscious asked you to date me. Get real."

He chuckled.

"You know, if your conscious asks me without calling me by the wrong name, I might say yes."

She eyed him suspiciously.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Ok then." Bella made eye contact. "Jake, will you be my boyfriend?"

He lost his smile.

"Low blow, Bells."

She waited.

"Now you ask."

"You're really gonna— Ow!"

Sometimes a punch on the shoulder was necessary.

"Fine, fine! Isabella Swan, will you be my girlfriend? For the record, I feel like a second grader— Oomf!" Edward lost his breath when Bella launched herself at him and planted her lips firmly on his.

Her strength had been such that Edward had been propelled backwards, so now he was laying flat with Bella on top of him, his hands on her waist. Her breath was hot, and he fought to not notice just how soft she felt against him. Despite the weight gain, almost none had gone to her chest, so it wasn't that he felt too much of that pressed against his chest. But he felt her —every curve, every—

Stop thinking, dude.

Alright.

"I'll be your girlfriend," Bella mumbled against his lips, rearranging herself so she was sitting on his abs, legs on either side of his torso. She was comfortable like that, but it appeared he had trouble breathing, so she moved down until her butt found the comfort of his belt buckle.

"Bells," Edward breathed, bringing both hands up to hold her face.

"Edward," Bella whispered through open mouthed kisses.

"Fuck, I want you so bad," Edward cursed, surprising Bella. He didn't normally cuss, and especially not in front of her. Smugly, she wondered if he was out of his mind. So, to confirm, she moved a tiny bit downwards... so their centers were aligned. " _Shit_."

 _That_ was most definitely a prominent bulge.

Bella thanked whatever God was out there.

Edward suddenly gave her a bruising kiss which was way too short, letting go and burying his face in her neck. They were both breathing hard, pulse erratic and hormones not really helping. Nor was Bella, who kept rocking on top of him, seeking friction to relieve herself.

He grabbed her hips with an iron grip.

"If you don't want me to have an accident in my pants, which really isn't romantic, I'd advice against moving."

"Perfect. I'll keep it up then," Bella tried moving, but Edward's hold on her was too tight. Damn it.

"Minx," Edward flipped them unto his side, his back against the backrest (oh wow look at that) and with his now girlfriend clinging with her left leg to his hips, her right one now straightened, eyes aligned.

It was way more comfortable than it sounded.

"I like the word minx. It's funny," Bella mused, trying to think of what other words she liked.

He kissed her forehead.

"You know, I really wanted to ask you in a more romantic way. You foiled my plans."

She rolled her eyes.

"Romantic shmantic. If I'd left it up to you, we'd be making it official by next year. My way was better."

"By _bullying_ me into asking?"

She nodded with a self-satisfied smile.

"Bella."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for wanting to be my girlfriend." He smiled, kissing her forehead again.

Her heart started melting.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Never lie to me again about food."

* * *

"Do you want to come in?" Bella asked as Edward turned off the ignition.

He turned to her with a surprised face.

"Really? It was that easy? Ask you to be my girlfriend and then get introduced officially?"

Bella grinned sheepishly.

"If you think about it, you and I have been dating roughly four months already, right? I mean, you've been my boyfriend in almost every way for a while now, minus the physical aspect. You're important to me, and my family's my world. I sorta want them to be in on this."

 _I sound so whipped,_ Edward internally whimpered, but couldn't deny her words.

However, Bella's insecurity decided to show itself.

"You don't think it's too soon, do you?"

Edward didn't restrain the urge to roll his eyes.

"Why would it?"

"Jasper officially met my parents the day of Rose's birthday party, and we'd been dating for months. Like, _officially_ dating, and he _still_ seemed reluctant. I'm just… I'm not pressuring you into this, am I?"

He grabbed her hand, which was resting on her leg.

"Despite what your subconscious might believe, I'm not Jasper. I'm Edward Cullen, pediatrician, unskilled gym trainer and Bella's boyfriend."

She couldn't resist it.

"You've shared one title, at least."

He glared.

"The point _is_ , you insufferable creature, that I don't feel it's too soon. Like you said: I want to be a part of the people most important to you."

Bella looked down.

"Ok. I believe you." Bella finally relented, squeezing his hand. He held it up and kissed the back of it, needing to kiss any part of his girlfriend. "Now let's get this show on the road."

Saluting, Edward let go of her and got out of the car, running to the other side and opening the door for her. Thanking him, Bella got out, loving how much of a gentleman he was. He could be really old-fashioned in some things, and she had to admit she loved that. She wouldn't have minded if he'd never opened a door for her, or pulled out a chair for her, but having experienced it, she had to admit how much it touched her.

"Ready?" Bella asked when they were on her porch, her hand gripping the house key tightly. Too tightly, thought Edward, judging by the white knuckles. Was she actually more nervous than he was? _He_ was the one meeting her parents, right?

"As I'll ever be. You?" He asked, prying her fingers away from the key. She had dents on her hands from the pressure it had made on her palms, and he calculated she'd been about thirty seconds away from drawing blood.

She gave one quick nod, and getting the keys back from Edward, she opened the front door.

Silently, they slipped into the two story house.

"Mom? Dad?" Bella called, taking off her light jacket. Night around these parts was always chilly.

"In the living room!" They called out at the same time.

How cute. They were probably ignoring each other though, with Mrs. Swan watching reruns of Desperate Housewives and Mr. Swan grading essays.

"How should we do this?" Bella whispered to Edward, suddenly wishing she'd thought this through a lot more. He, for some reason, seemed to have a complete handle on the situation, and calmly grabbed Bella's right hand. It was like for every shot of adrenaline she had over the anxiety of the Swans meeting her boyfriend, he got tranquilized. That wasn't really fair, considering she was supposed to be on home turf.

"Naturally," he said simply, squeezing her hand.

 _Naturally what? What, Edgar Collins? What?_

"Breathe," he reminded her, looking at the incoming panic coloring her face. More than worried, he was amused by the panicking 'cool as a cucumber Bella'. The age difference rarely showed, but it did now. He was more confident in himself —not in a way that could be achieved through self esteem, but with experience. He had his profession and age to thank for that, as well as personal history.

Adversity was the best teacher a man could have to be taught how to survive.

Or, in this case, face your younger girlfriend's parents without peeing your pants.

Bella, with wide eyes, took a deep breath, finally nodding. She was ready. She was determined.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" Mr. Swan asked absentmindedly, and as Bella predicted, he was grading papers.

 _Huh, what do you know? Mom's watching Gossip Girl, not Desperate Housewives._

"Good." Bella said, coming further into the room. Neither parent figure had turned to look at her, too consumed in their own things to turn to see their daughter holding hands with a mammoth of a man.

Said man cleared his throat, and now Bella's parents turned, thinking how that cough didn't sound like it came from their twenty-year-old daughter.

Renée Swan's mouth fell open, and Charlie dropped his red pen.

"Rie… What's going on?" Charlie asked, seeing as his wife seemed to be currently speechless.

"Mom, dad… I want to formally present to you my boyfriend."

Charlie sputtered for words.

"Since when…?"

"We made it official today. I wanted to let the people I love most to know about him. I think our relationship is too important for me to hide it from you." Bella explained, thankful for Edward's warm hand encapsulating hers.

"I—" Edward started, but was cut off by Mr. Swan.

"Come with me to the back. We'll talk there," he said, and his voice was firm and left no room for argument. It was the same tone he'd used with Emmett when he'd told his son to break up with May.

"Daddy," Bella said quietly, letting go of Edward's hand. "Don't hurt him. And I don't mean just physically."

She put a hand on Edward's back, giving him a light push.

Poker face on, Mr. Swan didn't reply, simply guiding Edward to the backyard.

In the living room, Mrs. Swan finally turned to face her daughter.

"You're insane."

"Why?" Bella asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He's probably not serious about you, Isabella. If he's Rosalie's age, then he's eleven years older than you. He's a man with an established career. How could he—"

"Possibly be interested in me?" Bella asked, hurt. "What, am I not good enough for him? Is _that_ it? I'm twenty, not twelve. If I'm old enough to choose a career that'll determine the rest of my life, I'm old enough to choose a relationship. Or do you not trust my judgement?"

Renée cast furious eyes at her daughter.

"Careful with your tone. I'm your mother no matter if you're twenty or eighty. I'm worried about you, don't you dare insinuate I'm underestimating you. I know better than anyone how much you're worth."

"But you make it _sound_ like you are, mom!" Bella insisted, feeling a tell-tale sign in her nose that said she was about to cry. Letting out a shaky breath, she calmed herself. Crying would get her nowhere. " _Yes_ , he's older, _yes_ , he's a doctor. He's also got his own baggage, which he's been open with me about. I'm not getting into anything blindly. I _know_ him. Who do you think helped put me back together after Jasper?"

Mrs. Swan swallowed hard.

"Emmett told us he was in love with Rose. Did you know that?"

Bella didn't flinch.

"Edward told me he was over her. I believe him; I'm not gonna waste time doubting him."

"What if he's just using you to get to her?" She insisted, and at this, Bella hesitated. What she'd told Edward two weeks ago was true; _If I'm given half a good reason so early in our relationship to doubt this thing we have, I could spiral down._ And here she was, letting her mother give her doubts she probably never would've thought of herself.

What if he wasn't over Rosalie Hale yet, and was using Bella to make her jealous? What if _she_ was the rebound? What if he didn't really like her? What if—

 _Think, Bella. Would he really be capable of that?_

No, he wasn't. As Bella had said, she was easily influenced in things like her opinion of people. However, it was usually with people she didn't really have an interest on retaining her opinion of them. With Edward… she _wanted_ to believe in him. She wanted to believe the man that had let her cling onto him as he accepted pizza from a delivery guy didn't have any ulterior motives. She wanted to believe that every smile and kiss he'd given her hadn't been motivated by Rose's face, twisting at his heartstrings and propelling him into action.

She thought then of the morning after the pizza incident, when Edward had confessed to Rose he'd been in love with her for years.

 _"… I wish he'd done it years ago, but he didn't. He hadn't had the right incentive."_

 _"So which was the incentive?… You said he hadn't said anything because he hadn't had the right incentive; obviously, now he does. Which is it?"_

Bella's pulse jumped.

"It was me." She whispered, suddenly wanting to cry for different reasons. _She'd_ been the incentive; but that was back in _April_. He'd told her of how he felt in, what? July, August? So, for how long had he liked her? How long had he had to put up with her talking about Jasper, comforting her with words when he wanted to comfort her with hugs? Her heart clenched, then expanded.

"What?" Renée asked, not understanding. She'd thought she was getting through to her daughter, but then Bella's face had softened in a way the mother had never known.

"It was _me_ ," Bella sighed, smiling, letting her arms fall. She looked up at the ceiling, all of her doubts suddenly washed away. Looking back to the front, she explained to her mother. "I think he's liked me at least since April, ma, and he said nothing about liking me up until the end of July. Our first date was three weeks ago. I think… I think he's really serious about me. I think Rose's got nothing to do with us."

At this, Renée was speechless. The lawyer that was known for her quick comebacks and counter arguments was speechless, and it was because of the lovestruck expression adorning her daughter's face. Bella had looked content with Jasper, of course. But there hadn't been anything special about the way she'd looked at the boy; she'd looked at him like you'd expect to look at someone you were fond of. This look? She was _more_ than fond of Edward. Even the way she'd introduced them was different; with Jasper, she'd been nonchalant. She'd brought him over eight months into the relationship, but with Cullen, it appeared she'd been unable to even wait a day. The situation was different.

So, as Bella had suggested (sort of), Renée decided to trust her daughter's judgement. What else _could_ she do? Those really _were_ her only concerns, and Edward sort of was the only person in her life that also liked watching _Keeping Up With The Kardashians_. He deserved a chance, she supposed.

So she sighed in defeat, feeling like she'd lost a trial.

"Well, I guess he's hotter than Jasper. You did better in that department, at least."

-.-

In the backyard, Mr. Swan sat on a plastic chair with a heavy sigh, motioning for Edward to sit down on the one beside him. He did, the chair whining under his weight.

Silence was absolute for a few minutes, only the sound of the occasional cicada interrupting.

Finally, Charlie broke the silence.

"Thank you."

 _This is unexpected._

Surprised, Edward turned to look at the older man, but he didn't stop staring at the front.

"For what?"

"Returning my daughter to me. Isabella took her breakup with Jasper really hard, and…" Charlie sighed, feeling like he wanted a beer really badly. "Truth be told, I asked Emmett to keep an eye on his sister. He told me that you were there for her the night of the breakup, and that you offered to keep helping her. She's been going to the gym a lot more thanks to you, too." He chuckled, then lost his smile. "But it's fine now. You can stop, if you're dating her out of some sense of pity. I don't want that for her." He turned now, looking at Edward with sharp eyes.

"Sir, with all due respect, I would _never_ date anyone out of a sense of pity. I helped Bella because I already liked her. I didn't want her hurting."

"So, is that it? Did you help her so she'd feel indebted to you and date you?"

 _Am I digging myself into a deeper hole?_

Edward took a moment to think of his next answer.

"I wouldn't have felt like a man worth dating if I hadn't helped the girl I liked get through a tough time," Edward began carefully, measuring his words. "I'm not the kind of person that demands compensation for helping."

"You're a doctor. You get paid to help," Mr. Swan deadpanned.

"I do, but I'd also do it even if I wasn't getting paid. I like going on medical brigades every once in a while, and I can assure you that sometimes a thank you is worth ten thousand dollars." Edward said, feeling the need to defend himself. It was true he got paid to do what he loved, but it wasn't like he asked for insurance first and name second. He believed in health care for everyone, and he was one of the few doctors that was willing to give money out of his own pocket to treat an uninsured worker than needed a few stitches. "Still, I never would've helped Bella just so she could date me."

Mr. Swan was still dubious.

"How can I know you're being honest? My daughter is young and a hopeless romantic. How do I know you didn't rope her into dating you?"

 _Has he even_ seen _you? Does he seriously think you need to 'rope' a single girl into one bleeding date with you?_ Bella would rant when Edward told her of the conversation.

"I think you know better than anyone Bella is the kind of woman that knows what she wants. If she didn't want me, she wouldn't date me. I'd have done a valiant effort to get her to date me, and then withdrawn if she still didn't accept me." Edward shrugged, not daring to mention he went after an underage girl for three years before making her his wife after a year of dating. Not the time or place. "As for being honest… Short of a polygraph, there's nothing I can say that'll make you know for certain. All I can offer you is my word that I like Bella very much, and I assume she's dating me because she likes me just as much, too."

Mr. Swan finally looked away from Edward, looking straight ahead.

"I see."

They were silent again for a few minutes, listening to the silent night. No cars honking, no loud TV, no voices to disrupt the ambience. Just nature.

Finally, Mr. Swan spoke.

"Treat my baby well, Edward. Keep making her happy. Make that your life's goal: make sure my daughter never lacks laughter or love when she's with you."

Watching this man, Edward thought to himself this was the kind of father he wished to be for his future daughter.

"I will," Edward promised, and he meant it.

* * *

"So, what happened after that?" Angela asked; she and Bella were on the phone, seeing as that Tuesday Ange was out with the cold. Bella was walking from her last class of the day, which meant it was almost four in the afternoon. Angela had apparently been knocked out the whole day yesterday, and had only woken up a couple of hours ago.

"Edward and dad came in, and they looked very calm about it. No new bruises on my boyfriend, so I assume it didn't get physical. Then Edward said he had to be in the hospital in the morning, so he had to go. We spoke on the phone a bit the last three days, but neither of us likes talking much on the phone. I'm a lousy texter, so he's sort of given up on me on that front."

Angela sneezed.

"You weakling. You could be sexting with him, but instead you're too damned old fashioned to even send emojis. What year were you born in?"

"Only a 90's kid will remember," Bella whispered cryptically, and she could almost see her best friend face-palming.

"You dork. Are you gonna bring me some hot soup or what?"

"I ride a _bike_ , Angela. Bikes and hot soup don't mix."

"Delivery guys."

"Fair point," Bella acknowledged. "Except for the part where they have a special box to store the food in. I can go to your place and make some, though. Got ingredients?"

Ange sneezed again.

"Yeah. I'll leave the door open for you, but I'll be in the TV room."

"Ok. See you in a bit."

Bella hung up, and rounding a corner, smacked into somebody.

 _Is Edward's clumsiness rubbing off on me or something?_

About to start apologizing, Bella first cracked an eye open to see it was Jasper… and Alice.

 _Somebody shoot me on the foot so I can be rushed to the ER and meet with Edward._

Bad Bella, thinking of excuses to meet Edward.

"Tweedledee, Tweedledum," Bella greeted, rubbing her sore nose. "What brings you here?"

Alice shot a look at Jasper.

"I bet you'll want to talk. I'll be in the car." She said, then stomped away.

 _Maybe I deserve that after the shit I said to her the last time we spoke._

"I came to get Alice. She hasn't been feeling well these last few days," Jasper explained, and Bella's eyebrows shot up.

"Really? Angela's out with a cold. Something must be going around."

"Must be." Jazz hummed in agreement, finally looking at Bella instead of trailing the path of his pouting girlfriend. "Wanna talk? Five minutes."

"Sure."

They found a bench which overlooked the parking lot, hoping it was public enough to assuage Alice's probable jealousy.

"You don't seem hostile today," Jasper noted, sitting down. "Much."

She glared.

"The clarification wasn't required." Bella looked around, finding easily enough Jasper's beat up white truck. It was a hulk, and from the distance she could see Ali pouting in the passenger seat. "She actually seems like she's had a few bad weeks."

Jasper nodded.

"She and her sister don't get along well. Cynthia's here for two months to recuperate from some surgery, and apparently they've been fighting nonstop."

Bella nodded in understanding, remembering one of the times Ali had talked about her difficult relationship with her family.

"Well, at least you're there for her. That's what counts," Bella said, fiddling with her bike keys.

"Yeah," Jasper said absentmindedly, turning to look at his ex-girlfriend. "You look happy."

"I'm always happy."

" _I_ haven't seen you happy in a long time, B." Jasper pointed out, and Bella couldn't deny it. He'd been the source of her sadness, after all.

"Well, I did well last semester, and I'm doing even better this semester in my classes, I think. I've made more friends," Bella said, thinking of Edyth and Nyla, another girl she'd discovered to be quite fun to be with during one of the group projects. They had plans to hang out this week. "And… I'm seeing someone. I'd say I have no reasons left to be unhappy."

Jasper analyzed her face, seeing the honesty displayed there.

"Is it Cullen?" He asked, knowing he had no business wanting to know.

Bella cracked a smile.

"What do you know? You were right. He _did_ have a thing for me," she giggled, thinking back to that April night, smile fading. "I don't know if you were right to break up with me without even giving me a chance of trying to hold you up, but… I'm glad you did. Maybe you and I weren't fated soul mates, but friends. You were a good first boyfriend, Jazz," Bella said, looking away from him and searching again for the white pickup truck. "But maybe you and I were meant for someone else. I see that now."

Despite knowing he had no right whatsoever, he felt a rush of jealousy course through his veins. Isabella Swan would always be his first love, and no matter what she thought, he'd loved her madly. The problem was that maybe not madly enough.

Still, there was something they agreed on.

"I'm glad I let you go, too, Bella. If I hadn't, lots of things would be different, starting by me never meeting Alice. She… _She_ makes me feel like destiny's a real thing."

Bella nodded in understanding.

"I get what you mean. I also wonder if maybe I was meant to find Edward," she said, smiling a bit at the memory of meeting him. "Rude as he was when we first met."

"You _do_ know, right? That when Ali and I met, she was only your friend. I need you to tell me you know I never once looked at her in any way I shouldn't have while you and I were dating." Jasper said, thinking of first meetings.

Bella stood up.

"Of course I know that, you dimwit. I would've thrown a tantrum much worse than before," Bella said, grabbing her backpack. She looked at her ex, the wind blowing past his hair, the familiar eyes looking up at her. "I'm sorry for lying about Jake. And for divulging things about Alice that weren't my business."

He sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I know. I also didn't think you cheated, but Ali and I had a _long_ talk after you left about that. Not one of your brightest moments, B." Jasper said, standing up as well.

Sheepishly, Bella stuck both arms through the backpack straps.

"Well, I was kind of furious." Bella admitted. "Incidentally, I think it was thanks to you that Edward manned up and told me he liked me. Life works in mysterious ways, right?"

Jasper gave her a defeated smile, thinking of how he could never win against her in anything.

"Right. Also…" he trailed off, not knowing how to continue. Fortunately for him, Bella did.

"I'll hear that explanation about how you and Ali got together. Soon," Bella promised, knowing it was a story she had to know in order to regain her friendship with the girl. Despite everything, Bella had felt deeply attached to the pixy-like girl, and knew that a great part of her anger had been because of the betrayal she'd felt from Alice.

"Alright. I'll hold you to it," Jasper promised.

With a last look, they parted ways.

-.-.-

"Honey I'm home!" Emmett called jokingly the next day, smiling when he saw his girlfriend come out of their bedroom.

"Hi! How was work today?" she smiled, walking up to him and throwing her arms around him, aiming for a short welcome back kiss.

"Good. We had this case today—" Emmett rambled on and on about it excitedly, undoing his tie and setting down his things by the door.

Rose flitted around the kitchen, pulling out plates, glasses and cutlery. She brought out some leftover meat, got the salad out and a few other things as Emmett spoke.

"Hey, what's this?" Em asked, looking at a post it with illegible handwriting stuck on the kitchen counter.

"Oh, that was to remind me. Your mother called and said to call her back. She said she tried your cell, but that it went to voicemail, so she assumed you were driving." Rose explained, serving both of them a glass of wine. They were both heading straight to bed, anyway, both looking like hell had bitch slapped them after their own tiring day.

"Oh," Emmett frowned, fishing his phone out and indeed finding the missed call from him mom. "Give me a sec, Ro. Could be about work."

Oh boy, was it not.

"Hello?" Mrs. Swan's business voice came on the phone. _It's our_ home _telephone, mom, you could answer in a friendlier way._

"Ma? It's your favorite son."

"Charlie! It's another scam call!" She jokingly called back, laughing at her son's answering grumble.

"What's up? Is it about work? I had a missed call from you," Em explained, leaning against the wall, cell phone perched between his shoulder and ear. He was unbuttoning his shirt, wanting to get into his pajamas as soon as possible.

"Oh, nothing like that. I just wanted to know if you had this Friday off. Rie is going on a date with Edward, I think, and your father and I thought—"

"Rie is going on a _what_ with _who_?" Emmett interrupted, and Rose froze. If what she thought was going on was true, she had a few seconds before her boyfriend exploded. She knew what was next. She started sending a text to her best friend:

 **Em knows. Hide.** —R

"Shit," Mrs. Swan whispered, not expecting this development. "I thought you knew, son. Edward is Rie's new boyfriend. She brought him over last Friday—"

The line died.

Running like a bat out of hell, Mrs. Swan rushed to her daughter's bedroom, knowing this was a matter of speed.

"Ma? What's wrong?" Bella asked, turning in her desk chair to look at her disheveled mother.

"You've gotta go to Edward. I accidentally told your brother—" Bella didn't need to hear more, and instead ran down the stairs and to her bike with a speed Renée Swan didn't know her daughter was capable of achieving.

Unfortunately, Edward didn't see Rose's text message in time, and Bella got stuck in traffic just long enough to give her brother the opportunity to arrive at Edward's apartment about five minutes before her.

"Open up, Cullen!" Emmett slammed his fist against the door, not caring that he was disrupting the neighbors. He only had to slam the door for a few seconds before a drop dead gorgeous woman opened the door with an angry huff.

"Can I help you?" She asked, raising her eyebrows as she watched Emmett assess her from head to toe, taking in her big shirt that he could've _sworn_ he'd seen Cullen wear.

"Tanya? Who's that at the door?" Edward walked out of his bedroom at that moment, only wearing boxers and rubbing a towel through his wet hair. He wasn't looking up, so he walked a few steps further until he was no longer covered by a wall, and was now in Emmett Swan's field of vision.

" _YOU!_ " Emmett roared, and Edward was so startled that he was paralyzed even as he saw the hulk of a man (Edward was more lean while Em was almost on par with bodybuilding Arnold Schwarzenegger) stalking towards him.

So, in a few words, Edward felt Emmett's upper cut make direct contact with what was probably his small intestine.

He crumbled to the ground.

"Oh my God, what are you doing to him? Edward!" Tanya rushed to protect her brother with her body, not wanting to give the man another chance to hit him without having to hit her, too.

"Shit, I can taste my soul," Edward moaned, curling into himself.

"What the hell, man? I'm gonna call the cops," Tanya screeched, seeing the man's unmoving position.

"You don't even have the decency to stay away from a twenty year old girl, and now you even cheat on her? I should put you in an _ambulance_." Emmett sneered, and thankfully Bella had arrived at the front door just in time to hear her brother rant.

"Emmett Swan, stop it!" Bella screeched, closing the front door. She really didn't want the cops called on _her_ for disturbing people.

"Rie, can you believe this guy? He has the fucking guts to—"

"That's his _sister_ , you moron." Bella snapped, rushing to her boyfriend. "Are you ok, Edward? Did he hit you?"

"Who's that, Bella? You sure you don't want me to call the cops?" Tanya asked, moving just enough to let Bella check on her brother. Two days ago, Edward had called her to say he and Bella were official, which prompted his younger sister to drive out to see him. She always wore his pajamas, deeming them more comfortable, which was why she was wearing his clothes.

"Please don't. The oaf is my brother." Bella said, leaning down next to Edward's stomach. "Did you upper cut him?" Bella snapped at her brother, who was growing increasingly embarrassed by his actions.

"I did." He admitted, watching as Bella flipped Edward onto his back.

"Make yourself useful and bring me some ice," Bella growled at him, apologizing to Edward when she saw that moving hurt him.

"You could say please," Emmett mumbled, the rage that had consumed him finally easing out.

" _Now!_ "

He did as told.

"I'm sorry about him," Bella whispered to Edward, whose face was screwed up in pain. "Apparently my mom let it slip."

That explained it.

"It's alright. I'll take some ibuprofen and I'll be good as new." He said, content when Bella got behind him sitting back on her legs, putting his head on her lap. "However, tomorrow we'll see if I can go with you to the gym. You aren't getting out of it anymore."

Damn.

Tanya watched this exchange with a soft smile. It was clear to her that her brother and Bella were so into each other that the bodybuilder's outrage was wasted. Besides; when she'd met Bella almost two months ago they'd spent the afternoon getting to know each other, making it clear since then that she was the girl her brother needed.

"Your brother has problems," Tanya said, rupturing their little bubble. "I demand compensation."

Edward whimpered again, but for different reasons.

 _My sister is a brat._

"I'll see to it that he pays back Edward for the pain he caused," Bella promised, brushing a hand through Edward's hair. It was getting a little long, and though she had an image of how good he'd with longer sex hair (thanks Robert Pattinson), she figured he wouldn't look professional.

Emmett came back in that moment, ice bag in hand.

"Sorry man," he said, handing Tanya the ice. "I let my anger get the best of me."

The three glared at him.

"What? This is my baby sister we're talking about here. I'm allowed to get hot in the head, right?" Em defended himself, knowing he was the least favorite person of the three at this moment.

"Not if you're gonna go punching my boyfriend," Bella pointed out, still running a hand through Edward's hair.

She's gonna make me fall asleep if she keeps this up.

"About that. What the hell, man? My _sister_? Of all the people in the world, you had to go for my little sister?" Emmett said, remembering the reason for running here in the first place.

"And out of all the people in the world, I had to go for your girlfriend's best friend." Bella rolled her eyes. "Can we move on? This is getting old. Any argument you can come up with I already heard from mom and dad, and _neither_ of them punched Edward." Bella said, quite angry that her brother thought she'd be ok with him punching Edward, even if he really had been cheating on her.

 _A slap would've sufficed in that case, and spamming his phone._

"How long have they known?" Emmett asked, then remembered his mother saying they found out last Friday. "No, actually, tell me how long you've been going out."

"I think it'll be a month tomorrow," Edward said, sighing in relief (and pain) when Tanya finally positioned the ice correctly.

"But he's been my boyfriend since Friday," Bella clarified. She was horrible with dates, and she preferred for the sake of celebrations to have marked down the day they became official. "We were planning on telling you last Saturday, but you cancelled last minute."

Another question surfaced.

"Does Rose know about you two?"

They shot Emmett a look.

"She's my best friend. _Of course_ she knows."

Bella thought of how bothered she'd have been if Jasper had said this about Maria when they were dating. With Rose, though, Bella felt no need to be defensive. They were best friends, and that was that. Rose was with her brother, and happily so, and Edward was with her. Simple.

"So she's known all this time and hasn't said a word?" Emmett asked, sounding wounded.

"Well, look at how you reacted. She was right not to say a word," Tanya said, and they sneered at each other. "Ro's a firm believer in bros before hoes. In case you were doubting it, Edward's the bro and you're the hoe."

"Thanks for clearing that up," Emmett thanked dryly, cutting his gaze back to the nurse and her patient.

"Em, I love you, but you aren't objective when it comes to me." Bella explained, apologetic despite everything. She'd wished several times to share her worries with her brother, but hadn't been able to.

"I'm not," Emmett finally agreed, sighing. "Is anything I say gonna change your mind?"

Bella shook her head.

"Then I guess I have no option but to step back," he sighed, and did literally step back. "I'm going home. It's been a long day,"

Bella could see that from his disheveled look, what with the half open buttons and tie hanging on for dear life.

"Also," he said, a few feet away but just close enough to make eye contact with Edward. "I'm not standing by again as I watch my sister suffer. You hurt her and I run a Monster Truck over your prized bike, Cullen."

He wasn't kidding, either.

Gulping, Edward nodded, thankful when Swan finally stepped out of the apartment.

The three sighed in relief.

Turning his beautiful green eyes up at Bella, he gave her a nervous smile.

"You think he'd really hurt Gertrude?"

* * *

 **The first part was more nightmare than dream. And yeah, I named Edward's bike Gertrude. I always name my stuff. My computer's called Sora Puckerman, and my iPad is called Minato. I had an iPod I called Big G (it was red and I'd just seen a movie about a redhead they called like that), and an iTouch I called Galatea. Now I'll stop my rant before it gets too long and I talk to you about consumerism, falling for marketing and stuff unrelated to this story.**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. Shoutout to my recurrent reviewers (I know who you are; not where to find you, but how to ID your username) and new reviewers. You make a girl incredibly happy with so many compliments. Believe it or not, I think all negative reviews have been about my summary lmao. I've had _both_ of them hated on, which puts me in the 'aw shucks' mood because I've actually liked both of them. Then again, maybe I'm not objective.**

 **P. P. S. How many of y'all had forgotten about Edward's incentive huh? Didn't think it would be important in the future, would it? _Did you?_ I didn't, to be honest. Sometimes I wing stuff, although I'm quite pleased when I manage to connect the dots. **


	12. This is (Also) Halloween

**Only three chapters after this! Woot! Feeling #Accomplished.**

 **DISCLAIMER: ?**

* * *

Halloween.

Indeed, it was that time of the year again. Costumes were sold out everywhere, candy companies were deliriously happy and couples everywhere were thinking of what matching costume they'd buy.

Everyone except, of course, Bella and Edward.

Being a month and a half into their relationship, it was noticeable to everyone around them that they were rookies when it came to being a couple. That, or they were just their own brand of unique when it came to that department. Edward would usually send a 'good morning' text, and Bella would reply with some joke or a simple good morning, too. Then Bella would tell Edward to save some lives, and Edward would say to call him when she got home. They'd managed to have a grand total of three more dates, two that ended with both of them asleep on Edward's couch and one that ended with them (read: Bella) snoring at the movies. They rather liked their dates, and apart of that they managed to get at least one gym session together a week. Angela insisted that they weren't doing anything romantic, and Bella insisted that the girl had to butt out of her relationship.

"You know, you're gonna end up bored again, like you did with Jasper. You can't keep treating each other like just friends." Angela had grumbled when Bella told her of what they'd done for their one month anniversary: ask for pizza delivery. Bella had refused to give up the details about their sex life, which Angela had correctly interpreted as 'inexistent'.

"We're not. It's just difficult to find time for each other. He being a doctor doesn't exactly leave a lot of time for us," Bella had pointed out nonchalantly, irking her best friend.

"So, you don't care? You see your boyfriend once a week if you're lucky and that's _fine_ with you?" Angela had snapped, unable to understand.

Bella had frowned, leaning back on the food court's uncomfortable chair.

"I never said I don't care."

"Well, you sure act like it!" Angela had fumed, as always unable to keep any opinion to herself. This was a trait Bella appreciated as much as she despised.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Tell him to stop his life for me? Not save a five year old that needs his help, just so he can come home to me earlier?" Bella had snapped back. "He's got an important life that has no space for a clingy girlfriend. I'd rather appear detached than be the girlfriend that's riding his ass every day about not spending enough time together. I _know_ he already spends every available moment he has with me. It would be unfair of me to ask for more."

Angela knew that what her friend said was true, but something didn't feel right about it.

"It's not unfair of you to want to spend more time with him, especially so early in the relationship," Angela had said softly, her anger fleeting.

Bella had sipped some water to calm down, forcing herself to hold back tears.

"I just… I like him _so much_ , Ange. Every moment with him makes me feel so special," Bella had sighed, a rare admittance of deep feelings. Cheesy as she was, she usually reserved the cheesiness for her partners. "I'm scared, you know?"

Angela had been surprised, not expecting that reply.

"What of?"

"Being too clingy and suffocating him, or being too clingy and neglecting everything else. I have a career I'm really looking forward to, and friends I really love spending time with, as well as plans that include traveling. What if I can't fit him in? What if I forget all of that to accommodate myself to him? What if I push him away because of my fears? I want to have everything, but I'm scared I'll end up with nothing," Bella had admitted, hunching into herself.

Ange had been supportive as only best friends could be.

"Have you told him about this?" She'd asked, and Bella had shaken her head no. "Don't you think you should? He probably has his own worries, and maybe they'll have a crystal clear solution to you. Holding it in will help neither of you."

The advice had stayed with Bella for a week, and now there she was, at home, one day before Halloween looking at the text in front of her.

 **Sorry B, can't make it to Halloween this year. I'm on call.** —E

That _definitely_ foiled her plans.

She was supposed to talk to him tomorrow. They were supposed to have a blast at the Swan Halloween party, and then she would suggest going to his apartment, where they'd talk and maybe she'd get the courage to reach third base with him. This, though, wasn't it. Her Halloween costume felt wasted; she'd told Rose to get Edward to the party in a suit, where she'd have a fedora waiting for him so he'd match her 20's flapper costume. It was even emerald green to match his eyes, not that he'd know the reason for the dress color.

Disappointed, there was only one thing she could reply.

 **Ok.** —B

She flopped back on the bed. Fine, whatever. She'd go stag this year then, even though she'd been looking forward to going with Edward this year. Staying in her room wasn't really an option, and she didn't feel like going to another party if she hardly felt like going to her own.

Just as she was contemplating her options, Bella got a call. Not looking at the caller ID, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Bella, hey!" It was Jessica, sounding cheerful as ever.

"Jess, what's up?" Bella perked up, sitting back up. Jessica went to a different college, and because she lived in the dorms, she normally came home only about once a month. It seemed Halloween was a worthy cause, because Jess informed her that she'd be staying two days before heading back.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to go shopping with me?" Jess asked.

"When?"

"Like, right now. I'm like five minutes away from your place, so I can pick you up. What says you?"

Fuck yes.

"Of course. See you in five then," they hung up, and Bella rushed to put on the pants she'd discarded a few minutes ago and brush her hair so it wasn't sticking up in all directions. She grabbed her purse, her house keys and phone, then rushed downstairs as she saw through the window that Jess was already parked outside.

"Sorry for the wait," Bella rushed out, getting in the passenger seat easily enough. "We picking up anyone else?" She asked, firing off a quick text to her mom that she was going out with Jessica.

"Yeah, Han. Bree can't make it and Lauren is meeting us there. Angela apparently's out on a date with Ben." Jess explained, pulling out of the front of the driveway.

"How about you and Lauren? Don't you have dates, too?" Bella questioned, putting on her seatbelt.

Jess scoffed.

"Tyler is busy, and I'm in the middle of a fight with Mike." Bella turned to face her friend with raised eyebrows. "He's an ass. He got drunk at some frat party last week and started puking everywhere, which _I_ had to clean up. I insist he cuts back on drinking, he insists he can do whatever he wants. I don't think I can take cleaning up after his mess much longer."

Bella frowned, not knowing how to reply to that. Jasper was never a heavy drinker, and Edward was a recovering alcoholic. Alcohol was never a relevant part of her relationships.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Bella asked.

"Dunno. I don't know if it's enough of a big deal to break up with him over it, ya know? I don't know if it's _un_ important enough to ignore, either. I get it, we're in college and heavy drinking happens, but the Mike I started dating wouldn't have gone around making a fool of himself that way." Jess said, biting her lower lip.

Bella thought of Edward.

"Is he having trouble at home or at school?"

Jess frowned.

"I don't know, actually. He's not a big talker for the relevant stuff. Why?" She asked, flicking her eyes to her friend briefly before returning her gaze to the road.

"Maybe he's going through something and is channeling it through drinking. Just a thought. Maybe he just likes alcohol, but if he wasn't like this when you met…" Bella trailed off, shrugging. "I think it's worth talking to him about."

Jess nodded, thankful for the advice. She didn't know why Bella thought of it, and it would be a few years into her relationship with Edward that she'd comment to her friends her boyfriend's previous alcoholism. Still, it was sensible advice she'd take into consideration.

"You're right. I've been so hung up on his attitude I haven't thought to ask him why he's behaving like this," Jess thanked her friend, wishing for the nth time she hadn't had to transfer out in high school and that she'd managed to get into the same college as Bella and Angela. She missed the two girls like crazy, and she wished she could have them in her daily life.

"I'm always right," winked Bella, and the two girls joked around until they arrived at Siobhan's house. The girl was waiting for them on the steps of her porch, and she bounced to them energetically. Sometimes, Bella felt like the grump in her group of friends, always a _bit_ more devoid of energy than the rest of her friends. The only thing that made it better was that if she was a grump, Angela was a grouch. To be fair, that's probably how Ange felt about _her_ , too.

It worked.

"So I was like, fuck you no," Han scoffed as they all got down from the car. "I mean, I get it that my laugh isn't everyone's cup of tea, but she _had_ to be fucking kidding me. I mean, telling me to shut up in _mass_? What was her deal?"

Jess and Bella agreed with her wholeheartedly. That wasn't a very spiritual thing to say.

"She should've waited until she found you in the parking lot," Jessica said, laughing when Han huffed and flicked her on the arm.

"Bella! Jess, Han! Over here!" Lauren waved frantically from her bench next to the entrance. She'd been waiting for ten minutes, sans sweater, and she was positive it'd only be colder inside the mall.

"Lauren, where's your sweater?" Bella asked, hugging the girl in greeting.

"Couldn't find any that went with the outfit," Lauren said defensively, and in a way, they all expected the answer so they didn't even scold her about it anymore.

"Sure. Fashion's way more important than hypothermia. Sensible stuff," Jess agreed, and the four girls laughed as they went into the mall.

"So, what are we buying?" Han asked Jess, nudging her so she wouldn't get deviated to the nearest ice cream shop, despite the weather. Jess was an ice cream addict.

"Halloween costumes. I haven't chosen anything yet, and Mike and I are going to a frat party from your college that's being thrown by one of his high school friends." Jess explained, letting herself be led away from the food.

"Oh! In that case, want mine? Edward cancelled on me a while ago. He's on call tomorrow." Bella explained, wanting the costume off of her hands. If she didn't have one, she could justify herself when she told her mother she couldn't go.

"No, no!" Jess shook her head vigorously. "You're coming with me and Mike to the party then, and that's that. Han, Lauren, wanna come?" Jess asked the other two girls nicely, ignoring Bella's complains.

"I've got plans with Tyler," Lauren turned her down, which the other three girls had already expected.

"I've got to babysit some kids that are going trick or treating. I'll get paid handsomely, so I can't turn it down," Han said, shrugging apologetically.

"That's fine. We'll take Bella third wheeling with us then," Jess looped her arm through Bella's, flashing the girl a bright smile.

Bitch.

"I'm gonna regret it, aren't I?" Bella sighed, letting herself be towed away to the nearest costume shop that seemed to never run out of stuff.

They were in the store for nearly two hours, just choosing a costume for Jessica and Bella. Apparently, Jess hadn't been enthused about taking Bella wearing a flapper dress, so she was bullying her into buying something else. Finally, at the very end, Jess settled on a Greek woman outfit, while Bella was able to find a Katara costume (from The Last Airbender; she also found one of Korra, but she didn't really like the Avatar), choker and all. She had boots she could use at home, and the outfit came with the hairdo instructions. She had to fight Jess really hard on that one, and only managed to win by reminding the girl that it was _her_ money buying her costume.

When they were walking out of the store, they bumped, just like in dramas, into Alice.

"Bella?" Alice stopped in front of Bella; she had like three bags coming from diverse stores, and being a super fashionista, Bella expected no less.

"Who's she?" Lauren whispered to Han, who shrugged and turned to Jess for answers, who in turn looked at Bella. None of them had ever met Alice.

"Ali, hey," Bella greeted, flinching when she felt the instant animosity coming from her friends. As friends tended to be, they were blindly supportive.

"You're Alice?" Han asked coldly, which surprised Bella. Siobhan was probably the nicest girl she'd ever met, and she didn't use that tone with anyone she'd ever met.

"Girls, why don't you head to the food court? I'll meet you there." Bella rushed to intervene, looking at her friends with eyes that said she wanted no trouble.

It was Lauren who answered.

"Alright, B. Don't take too long," she said, grabbing the two other girls and leading them away.

Bella and Alice sat down on a nearby bench.

"Window shopping?" Bella asked, and Alice cracked a smile. Despite having seen each other all semester, they'd yet to direct a word to each other.

"You could say that," Alice said. "I'm sorry, Bella. I think I should start there."

 _I was gonna beat around the bush some more, but oh well._

"I'm sorry too, for how I acted. You had every right to date Jasper, but I made it seem like it was wrong of you. I said things I shouldn't have, and you'll never know how much I regret it," Bella apologized sincerely, feeling the weight lift from her shoulders. She'd felt terrible for months now about her rash words.

"It's ok. I know you were angry and probably weren't thinking straight. Besides, if you hadn't told Jasper about my cheating, I probably never would've told him about it." Alice admitted, looking to the front, avoiding Bella's gaze. "Truth be told, there are things I'd like to explain."

Bella released a deep breath, then gave a single nod.

"Ok. Explain."

So she did. How on Halloween she'd felt an instant connection to Jasper, but hadn't acted on it for fear of losing Bella's friendship. How she'd started going to the hospital after their breakup, trying to build up the courage to talk to him and give comfort. How the time she'd finally managed it, it was the night of Mr. Whitlock's passing. How she was simply _there_ for Jasper, a kind stranger he trusted for some reason. How in a matter of weeks they'd known they were meant for each other, no logical reason behind it. How sure Alice was of wanting forever with Jasper, and how fulfilled he made her feel. How the cheating she'd told Bella about had been emotional, not physical, but there nonetheless. How it had happened after months of having basically no boyfriend, and needing someone to lean on as her world crumbled around her. Alice told Bella that Jasper knew of it now, and had vowed to be her rock —and how _real_ she knew his words to be. How much she missed Bella.

At the end of the explanation, Bella stood up. She grabbed her shopping bag and she turned to look at Alice, who was looking at her feet.

"Ali."

She looked up.

Bella was smiling.

"Let's sit together on Monday, alright? I'll introduce you to Edyth."

The girls cried together in relief.

* * *

"I'm sorry I can't go with you, Bell." Edward apologized again over the phone as he checked a medical chart. Bella was on the other end of the line, apparently getting ready for the Halloween party.

"It's ok, Edgar. I told you already. It's not really a big deal," Bella lied, and unfortunately for her, Edward bought it. Not the part that it wasn't a big deal, but the part that she didn't give her boyfriend's absence much thought.

"Oh. What are you going as?" Edward asked, trying to change the subject.

"Katara from The Last Airbender." Bella said. "That's too tight!"

Edward looked around, bewildered, wondering if he'd suddenly blacked out.

"Bella?"

"Sorry, I was talking to Jess. She's doing my hair; we're at her place getting ready." Bella explained.

Edward suddenly realized he'd lost the place he was reading, so he had to start checking the evolution notes, which was where he'd left off.

"We? Are your friends coming over for your Halloween party?"

 _Shit. I forgot to tell him._

Letting Jess brush her eyebrows do her hair, Bella sheepishly explained.

"Um, I'm bailing that. Yesterday afternoon Jess offered to take me with her and Mike, her boyfriend, to a frat's Halloween party. I honestly think they're just taking me as the designated driver," Bella whispered, laughing when Jess shouted her offense but didn't deny it.

"Oh," Edward frowned, somehow displeased. She was going to a college party? It wasn't odd, given that she _was_ a twenty year old and allowed to have fun, but… _His_ frat parties had been wild and unsafe, especially for women. Even worse if gorgeous women went, like his girlfriend. The only thing that made things slightly better was that Bella wouldn't be drinking, which would reduce her chances of being given something spiked or being taken advantage of against her better judgement. She could still be overpowered by a drunkard, but—

"Stick to Mike and Jess." Edward said firmly, wanting the overprotective thoughts to stop swirling around his head. "And please call me when you get there and when you're leaving so I know you're safe."

" _Yes_ , dad," Bella teased, nonetheless appreciating his preoccupation. She knew he was a worrywart by nature, and that he wasn't _trying_ to be overbearing. "Anyway, Jess is glaring at me because she needs to put makeup on me and I'm not letting her until I finish talking to you. Have a good shift, Edward."

He sighed heavily, not really pleased.

"Thanks. Be safe, Bells."

They hung up.

A moment of silence passed, and then Bella grunted in annoyance.

" _God!_ I want to knock his teeth in so badly!" She snapped, making Jess laugh.

"What did he say?"

"He's like— like— Oh, _whatever_. I don't even know what I'm so upset about. I'm the one that's like 'Oh, that's fine, bail on me for our first couple-y thing together' and expecting him to go like 'I'm so sorry, Bella! I'll ask someone to cover for me!'. Fuck me but more than that, fuck him." Bella whined, the fight suddenly escaping her. She finally closed her mouth, letting Jess put foundation on her.

[This author does not know how to properly apply makeup, so she shall skip the description of products to avoid being told that's not how it's done. Apologies if you were hoping to gain some insight yourself as to that process.]

"He's not a mind reader. You should tell him."

Bella glared at her friend through the mirror's reflection.

"Shut up. You're one to talk," Bella pouted, closing her eyes when Jessica told her to. "I just… it was so much easier with Jasper, you know? I didn't care about any of this. Now I do and I'm clueless about how to handle this."

Jess hummed.

"You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"Watch _Clueless_. It's been a while since I last saw it." Jess said, also telling Bella to open her eyes, which lit up at her words.

"I was _just_ thinking about that. It's like you read my mind, Jess. I think the last time…"

So their conversation diverted to movies, and then Paul Rudd, and finally to Ant-Man. By the time Mike arrived to pick them up, they'd already moved on to who was better: Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock or Robert Downy Jr.'s.

The indecision was real, but with Mike's vote, it was decided that the Cumberbitches won. Meaning, Bella and Jessica's ex-boyfriend, as the girl declared after the vote.

When they pulled up at the frat house, Bella realized something very important.

"Mike… Is this _Jake's_ frat house?" Bella asked, but the driver was whistling and feigning innocence as he got off from the car, going around it to open both Jess and Bella's door.

"Thanks," Bella said, closing the door behind her. "Michael Newton? Is it?"

He started saying something to Jess about having to think more about the Sherlock question, not answering Bella no matter how many times she asked as they walked up to the house. Groaning, she finally came to the conclusion that yeah, it was. Jake was actually the link between Mike and Jessica. Once, when she'd been forced to go to some family BBQ and Angela had refused to go, she'd taken Jess with her, since none of the other girls wanted to go, either. Jake, being a childhood friend (his dad and Bella's dad were besties), was there, and he'd brought along _his_ best friend, Mike. The rest, as they said, was history. Jess had been lovestruck, and Mike boob-struck (she liked to think that the feelings evolved). This had been around the start of Bella's weigh-loss, which meant Jake hadn't been interested in her yet. Like, at all.

Good times.

"I swear, if we bump into him—" Bella began, crossing the threshold to the house.

"Yo, Belly! Mikey, Jessy!" A grating voice called out which could only belong to Jacob Black, quarterback of the university's football team and thorn in Bella's side.

"It's Bella," Bella snapped, suddenly being enveloped by huge beefy arms.

"Bella, it's been too long!" Jake hooted, putting her down and then getting a good look at her. He whistled lewdly. "You look hot, B. A+."

 _I'd be happy if you weren't such a creep about it._

"Thanks, Jake. You too," she replied dryly, motioning to his zombie football player costume. Real creative. Awfully enough, he winked at her.

"Mike, man. What's cracking?" Jake and Mike did a bro hug, getting along as always. "Jessica."

"Jacob." Jess deadpanned.

If Bella could count on someone to hate on Jake with her, it was Jess. Apparently, she believed that Jake had something to do with Mike's recent over-drinking, claiming that the more one boy drank, the more the other gulped down.

"How do you do?" Jake asked formally, and Jess clenched her jaw as the boy let out a boisterous laugh. "Come on, we're all friends here! Who wants something to drink?"

"Me!" Mike immediately said, but Jake blew him off.

"You can get your own drink. Ladies?" He smiled charmingly at Bella specifically, and she did her best not to flinch.

"You know I don't drink, Jake." Bella said calmly, used already to the peer pressure. She'd fallen a few times, and she still regretted it. She hadn't had much fun with the hangovers afterward, and her brother's disapproval had been so severe it really hadn't been worth it.

"Thought you'd change your mind. Tell me if you do," he winked, and Bella sneered.

"Vodka for me," Jess said, figuring if her boyfriend was drinking, so would she.

"You're both drinking?" Bella whispered in her friend's ear, worried. She didn't know if she'd go back with the couple, even if she wasn't planning on leaving without them.

Jess blew her off.

"Don't worry about it, friend. If you can't drive us back, we can crash in Jake's room. That, or we call an Uber and pick up the car tomorrow." Jess reassured her, relieving Bella only slightly.

"Alright. I'll be checking up on you two just in case," Bella said, then left the couple alone, not wanting to be near Jake more than she had to.

Suddenly remembering, she texted Edward.

 **I'm at the party.** —B

 **Be safe.** —E

 **:)** —B

* * *

Edward sighed for the umpteenth time.

"Your soul's gonna run away from you if you keep sighing like that," Dr. Petrova pointed out, undoing her shoes as she got in the lower cot. "Something bothering you?"

He sighed again.

"My girlfriend's at a Halloween party without me. Probably having a blast." Edward whined, turning on his side to check the time on his phone. It read 1:14 a.m., and he had no new texts from Bella. Was she ok?

"Aw, do you miss her?" Dr. Petrova teased, probably one of the few doctors who had no interest in the handsome Dr. Cullen. It probably had something to do with not liking men at all, but even then, she could recognize when she'd found an attractive man when she saw one.

"I do. She's the type to have fun with or without me, and I kinda wish she'd asked me to join her, ya know?"

The doctor on the bed below him snorted.

"You're on call. She'd be pretty irrational to want that." The female doctor turned to face the wall. "Although, you _could_ be with her. You're an attending, so you could technically be there with her. All you'd have to do is be coherent throughout the night and keep your beeper with you."

Edward frowned, ignoring her comment. Bella's house had been too far away from the hospital to reach in case of an emergency, and he hadn't bothered asking her where the frat party was. He figured she wouldn't be happy at the sudden change in plans again.

"What does _your_ girlfriend think of you being on call tonight?" Edward asked; everyone in the hospital knew the beautiful Irina Petrova batted for the same team (through trial and error), which helped avoid faux passes.

"She called me a bitch for a while, before just hanging up on me. I also couldn't make it to our last Halloween together, but I promised her I'd be there this Thanksgiving." Dr. Petrova explained.

"Have you talked to her since?" Edward asked, curious about the outcome.

A snore answered him.

Of course; apart from her beauty, Irina was known for talking one second, and being asleep the next.

 _Big help, Petrova,_ Edward grumbled to himself, checking his phone again. Still nothing.

Sighing, he let himself close his eyes, wanting a quick nap.

An hour later, he got woken up by a page.

"Dr. Cullen, you're required in the ER," Nurse Carmen told him.

"I'm on my way," Edward said, sitting up.

"And… Don't panic, but your girlfriend's here." The nurse said. "Hello? Dr. Cullen?"

Edward had already hung up on the woman and was flying like a bat out of hell across the hospital to reach the emergency room.

"Bella? Bella! Where are you?" Edward rushed into the ER, looking around at the beds to see if he could find his girlfriend.

" _Dr. Cullen!_ " Nurse Cheney scolded, motioning him closer. "She's at the end of—"

Again, he was no longer listening, running off to his girlfriend.

He found her, but oddly enough, not as a patient.

As a companion.

"Bella?" Edward asked, confused. She was next to the huge, shirtless russet-colored boy lying on the bed, looking like she'd been crying. "What's wrong? Who's this?"

He took in her outfit, recognizing it was a good one. She looked beautiful, and he imagined she'd looked even better with her makeup intact.

"Um…" Bella swallowed, rubbing her tear tracks away. "This is… Jake." He frowned, remembering that was the name she'd jokingly called him by erroneously. "He's a childhood friend; our dads are friends. I… Uh…" Bella sniffled, lower lip quivering. "I was so scared!" She whimpered, throwing her arms around Edward's waist and letting herself cry.

"Sh, it's ok now. He's fine, love," Edward comforted, wondering at how easy the pet name had come out. He'd think about it later. "What happened, Bells?" He asked, pulling her back long enough to get a good look at her face. He brushed her fresh tears away with his thumb, also brushing away makeup. Oops.

"He's… a member of the frat house I was at. I— I was talking to some girl, I can't remember about what, when we heard a crash. J-Jake had tried doing the keg stand, and he s-suddenly fell to the ground. I offered to get in the ambulance with him, and they brought us here. I'm sorry I'm taking you away from your job, Edward," Bella's lip quivered again, but she managed to stop herself from crying as she spoke.

"Don't apologize about that, Bell," Edward shushed her, drying the tears that had managed to leak out. "You did the right thing. Did you call his dad?"

Bella hiccuped.

"The hospital will call him. He's Jake's emergency contact," Bella explained.

"Alright. You've done all you can, love. You've gotta rest," he said, brushing the hair back from her forehead, and this time, it wasn't about perfectionism. "Are your parents expecting you tonight?"

Bella shook her head.

"I'm supposed to stay with Jessica."

Edward pressed his lips together.

"How about this? Go wait for me in the on call room; I clock out in six hours. You can sleep there, and when I get out I can either drive you home or to my place. How does that sound?" Bella sniffled, nodding. He nodded, kissing the top of her head. "Alright. I'll ask one of the nurses to take you there. You should let Jess know, and your parents if you want."

Edward left her, going to the nurse's station to ask one of them (not Nurse Cheney) to take his girlfriend to the on call room, please. Bella watched her boyfriend move confidently, clearly in his turf. She felt really grateful in that moment that Edward had been here, on call, and had been able to support her through this shock. Having to see Jake that way, passed out and pale, had been awful. She really thought he was a creep most of the time, but she didn't wish ill on him.

Edward returned.

"Nurse Haley will take you there. I'll probably stay here," Edward said, giving her a quick peck on the lips. Sniffling, Bella nodded, letting the kind nurse take her to the doctor's on call room.

Edward had to stay and deal with all the trouble that usually came with Halloween.

It was like Jake's admittance had been the ok the rest of the patients needed, because suddenly more people started coming in —pumpkin carving accidents (at two in the morning? Really?), food poisoning, drunken falls (and normal falls), allergic reactions and the like flooded the ER, which meant that all of the doctors on call were called down to treat the incoming ailments. This meant that Bella and Dr. Petrova narrowly missed each other, which was best for everyone —if she'd managed to get her hands on Bella after hearing Edward's complaints, who knows what damage she could've done?

Bella didn't get a wink of sleep, though she did send Jess a reassurance that she was fine, and that Jake would survive. The reply:

 **K u sureeee? Mki and me will zzz hre.** —J

Definitely drunk, then. Indulging her friend, Bella replied 'sure', before putting her phone on silence. She also sent her mom a text that she was safe in bed, and that she'd be home at around six or seven at night.

Though she really did try sleeping, she found her heart wouldn't settle. The adrenaline from thinking Jake would die hadn't worn off, she thought, and she missed Edward so much she felt like she would cry. She needed him here, with her, calming her racing heart. Telling her she'd be fine, because he was there for her.

For some reason, Bella had never felt more lonely.

* * *

"Bella, wake up," Edward whispered, lightly touching her shoulder. She must've dozed for a bit, because suddenly the sunrise she'd witnessed was now full-fledged daylight.

"What time is it?" Bella croaked.

"Eight. I clocked out a bit earlier, now that everything's calmer. Come on, let's go home," Edward whispered, not wanting to wake up the other doctors that had crashed here at some point throughout the night.

"Carry me?" she asked hopefully, not caring how childish she sounded. Giving her a fond look, Edward nodded, extending his arms so she could hop down from the bunk bed and cling to his front like a monkey. Locking her arms behind his neck, Bella let her eyes close as Edward walked out of the on call room.

When she woke up, she was in Edward's bed.

"Edward?" Bella croaked again, not knowing what time it was. Edward had black-out curtains, and he refused to have an alarm clock, claiming his phone was good enough to tell the time. Feeling too warm, she didn't even consider reaching out to grab her phone or Edward's from the nightstand to check the time.

"Mmm…" Edward groaned, tightening his hold on her. He was spooning Bella, having decided that it would do them no harm to just sleep together. As Bella would find out later, he'd also changed her into his boxers and shirt —she'd almost made him go into cardiac arrest when he saw the lingerie she was wearing, thanks to Han's insistence that they should go to Victoria's Secret during their mall outing.

"Nothing," she mumbled, deciding she could comfortably go back to sleep.

Flash forward four hours, when both of their stomachs were rumbling terribly.

"Edward, food," Bella whined, digging her elbow into his stomach.

He grunted.

"Sleep."

Bella saw the time, finally having stretched enough to reach his phone.

"It's almost five, Edward. I haven't eaten anything in at least fifteen hours, and I'm starving," Bella said, trying to get up but being held back by Edward.

"Order some pizza." He offered, and Bella didn't think twice before doing as suggested.

Five minutes later, they were set to receive a large ham and cheese pizza with a large diet coke. Bella tried getting up, but again Edward held her back.

"Edward, come on. I need to pee," she said, and this finally got through to him. He let her go, and she scrambled to Edward's bathroom, thankful to finally be able to relieve herself.

Her stomach made itself known, loud and clear. She told it to wait for a bit, and after washing her hands, did a few gurgles with Edward's mouthwash. When she saw what a disgusting mess she looked like, she also thoroughly washed her face, hoping she hadn't stained Edward's pillows. Pulling out hair pins and arranging her hair into a ponytail, Bella carefully shut the bathroom door, not wanting to disturb Edward _too_ much.

When she dove under the blankets, she found herself being pulled into Edward's arms; she was glad for that, too, because it was fucking cold in the bathroom.

"Edward?"

Gurgle. Groan. Unintelligible noises. Finally, a huff.

So, he wasn't completely out again. Bella felt bad for Edward; he was probably overworked and only wanted to crash for like half a day, but she'd also missed him. Besides, they had things to talk about.

"Edward, we need to talk," Bella said firmly, and these were the magical words to make Edward suddenly shoot his eyes open.

Think the Squidward meme of him opening his eyes in panic.

"What's wrong?" Edward sat up, and Bella mimicked him. Bella turned on the bed light, needing to look at Edward's face. He had bags under his eyes and more stubble than she'd seen a few hours ago.

"Nothing's wrong, exactly. It's just…" Bella bit her lip, sighing in defeat. "It's nothing. I'm just hungry. I'll go wait outside for the delivery," she said, but Edward shot a hand out to still her.

He actually looked angry for a change.

"No. Talk to me, Isabella. I can't fix anything if you don't tell me."

He sounded so… grown up. Like he had all of the answers to Bella's questions.

Her eyes watered, which was unexpected. She thought she'd be angry for this conversation, not sad and hurt.

But she was.

"I needed you last night _so much_ ," Bella said, rubbing at her eyes furiously. "I was so scared, but you had to work. I had to go by myself and deal with being scared by myself. I can do it, but I don't _want_ to do everything by myself." Bella looked down, nose tingling. "I get that maybe I'm being unfair. It's not your fault. But I just… I wonder how often I'll need you, and you won't be there."

It was a valid worry.

"More often than either of us would like, probably." Edward answered, having calmed down when seeing the waterworks. "I'm sorry I couldn't hold you throughout the night. After my shift is the best I could do."

Yeah; she'd slept like a baby in Edward's presence. She felt so well rested it should've only been possible under the influence of sleeping pills.

"I also wanted you with me for this Halloween," Bella blurted out, surprising Edward. "It _definitely_ wasn't ok with me that you were on call, but I felt like saying it would be unfair to you. It's not like you chose the day, and it's not like I told you how much I wanted you with me. But I did. I do."

His eyes were incredibly soft. He tugged Bella closer, bringing her to the spot between his legs. Her back to his chest, she let herself lean against him.

"I thought you didn't care. You've never complained." He said, wrapping his arms around her, just underneath her boobs. Shrugging, she started accommodating his arm hair.

"I didn't think I should. You can ask all of my friends, though. I've been moping around this last week, what with not being able to see you." Bella confessed, covering Edward's arms with her, tightening them more around her.

"You can ask all of the nurses. I've been talking about you so much they'll probably ask you to take me away," Edward not-quite joked, resting his cheek on top of Bella's head. "Please don't doubt how much I want to be with you. The hospital's my work priority, and you're my personal priority. The problem is I can't always rush to your side, since most matters I attend are life-and-death situations."

Yeah, she could see that.

"I don't. I was just frustrated." Bella said, leaning her head back into the crook of his neck.

"You can tell me these things, you know? I'll always hear you out."

"You can too," Bella smiled, sighing contently.

"While we're on the topic," Edward barreled on. "Who's Jake and why have you mentioned him before?"

Bella laughed.

"He's my childhood friend, I told you. Not one I'm fond of, mind you. He's the type of guy that wouldn't give me the time of day when I was overweight, and now searches for me during every family outing. He was a huge sore topic for Jasper, thinking my relationship with him was like his was with Maria. The difference was he _willingly_ hung out with his childhood friend, while _I'm_ forced to."

Edward felt conflicted; to feel or not to feel jealous?

"No feelings for him then?"

"I'm sorta otherwise engaged with this overworked doctor. He's kinda cute, you know? In a Robert Pattinson sorta way, minus the vagabond hair and pale makeup. He's also super nice, awkward and kind of a geek like me. So yeah, hard pass on the creature some call Jake."

Edward chuckled.

"Awkward?"

" _So_ much."

.—.

"So, did you get home ok?" Bella asked Jess two hours later, having finally remembered to both call her friend and tell her parents she'd be getting home a tad later, since she'd slept most of the day away.

"Yeah. We got woken up by some jerk at like eleven, and Mike dropped me off at home. We're gonna have a long talk tomorrow about parties," Jess said, on her end drinking water frantically. Hangovers were no joke.

"Good. You probably need it," Bella said, suddenly giggling. "Edward, stop it," she said, trying to free her foot from his tickling. They had an empty box of pizza sitting on the coffee table, both of them eating half and half.

"Oh, that's nasty. Are you two having sex while you talk to me?" Jess asked, the disgust clear in her voice.

Bella huffed.

"Just making out," she said, winking at Edward, who chuckled at her antics. "Gotta go. You might not like being on the phone with me for the next part."

She hung up on Jessica.

"You tease. Are you actually gonna do as you say?" Edward asked, leaning on her knees as he pushed himself up, face dangerously close to hers.

"I need someone to help me out. Mind lending a hand?" Bella breathed out, reaching a hand out to tangle it in his hair.

He closed his eyes, leaning forward until their noses touched. Lips hovering over hers, he said one thing before deepening the kiss.

"I'll even lend _two_."

* * *

 **I was actually gonna be super awful and break them up so they'd have this discussion, but I also wasn't gonna do a second Halloween chapter, and then I did. Which meant the break up didn't fit, and there's no space left for it if I want to finish this story like I envisioned. Oops? Maybe in a flashback or something. Oh well.**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. So, I'll stop posting here, and hopefully next Monday I'll post chapter 13. I'm going to _try_ to make the epilogue super long (like three thousand words more than my average), but I make no promises. **

**P. P. S. So, how is it until now? Still with me? Hopefully, I did right by most readers. Also, in case any of you are wondering... no, they didn't have sex in this chapter. But if this is chapter 12 out of 15, you can be comforted by the fact that it'll happen soon. Hihi. Sorry if any of you were hoping, but I didn't think it was the right time for them just yet.**

 **P. P. P. S. I know, I fail for not knowing the makeup process. I know many other women are right there with me, and others are probably thinking I'm like twelve. I'm not, pinky swear. I'm just a lazy college student who's survived by applying foundation on the undesired spots, eyeliner and mascara to look alive. The other day I went to Sephora for the first time ever and I spent almost $90 in just like one lipstick and three eyeliners (I could've spent that on cookies). I'm sticking to Target, friends. #Cheapskate**

 **P. P. P. P. S. Seriously, I _need_ to learn how to shut up in the author's note. Sorry. **


	13. Holiday Season

**After this chapter, there's only one more to go and the epilogue! _Woot!_**

 **DISCLAIMER: Twilight is whatever we want it to be.**

* * *

It was D-Day.

D-Day, as in the day that Bella was meant to meet the parents of the boy (man) she was currently dating. Despite having been an official thing for well over two months now, Edward had refused to introduce Bella to his parents. She'd been dangerously close to kicking him between the legs to get answers out of him when he'd finally come clean over why it had taken him so long in telling his parents about her.

 _"My parents and I have had a strained relationship since my rehab days. We always avoid each other at Rose's birthday party, if we happen to be there at the same time, so we haven't actually talked in years. Tanya knows not to tell them anything about me, and she doesn't tell me anything about them. I'm sorry you felt like I was hiding you," Edward had taken her hands between his, having heard all of her crazy reasons for him possibly not having had introduced them._

 _"Why? Don't they know you got better?" Bella had asked, not understanding how parents could give their recovering child the cold treatment._

 _"They can't know for sure. I'm sure Tan's told them I'm better, but, love… They saw me in ways no parent should see their kid. I'm sure they'll never forget seeing me—" Edward had choked up, not wanting to think again about the fear and disappointment in their faces when they'd seen him in the ER bed, disoriented and with vomit dried on his shirt. Bella, as always, felt her heart kick at the pet name. "They tried, Bella. Really hard for a while, and after two years of pestering me and me not being able to face them out of shame, they stopped calling."_

 _Bella had taken Edward into her arms, hugging his head. She'd been able to see how badly Edward wished to have a normal relationship with his parents, and how guilty he felt that they didn't._

 _"Tan told me they're planning a Thanksgiving dinner," Bella had said softly, stroking his hair. "She said she could tell them she'd invited two friends over so they'd have a place for you and I. We could give them a surprise visit, if calling them beforehand is too scary. What do you think?"_

 _Edward had wrapped his arms around Bella's waist, trying to burrow further into her._

 _"Ok. I want to see them."_

So, in other words, not only did Mr. and Mrs. Cullen not know their son was going, they didn't know his _girlfriend_ was going. It could go either really well or terribly wrong.

"Hey, Edward," Bella said, turning to face her boyfriend's profile. He'd picked her up fifteen minutes ago, stopping to apologize to Bella's parents about taking Bella away from them for their Thanksgiving dinner. Bella had explained the situation to her parents to the best of her abilities, though, not wanting them to think she was bailing on them just because. They'd been surprisingly understanding, even when they didn't know yet about Edward's previous alcoholism.

"Hey Bella," he echoed; since they were holding hands over the console of the car, he squeezed hers, flicking his gaze to her to give her a wink. "What's up?"

"I was just thinking — _Don't!_ " She rushed, knowing the joke that followed: 'Good. Something new for you' or something among those lines. "Rose lives in a really nice neighborhood, and you said you grew up near her house. I also remembering you telling me that your dad got fired when you were in college, and that he had a hard time keeping a job. So, what I mean to say is… Did you move?"

She felt idiotic after posing that question, especially when she'd find out in a little while. However, she felt that it was necessary.

Edward didn't make her feel like it was a dumb question, either.

"Well, there were a few things I didn't mention, since they're kinda hard to explain. Mmm, let's see…" Edward released a deep breath, thinking of how to elaborate. "My dad's a doctor, too, but a family doctor. Back then, he got fired after a malpractice suit he hadn't been able to defend himself in. A mother had lost her child to a rare disease my dad had no way of curing, nor diagnosing correctly back then. No hospital wanted to hire my dad while he had the lawsuit going, so he was jobless for a while."

Edward stopped for a few seconds, needing his full concentration to cross an intersection. Once he'd cleared it, he returned to his story.

"That being said, my mom's father had been a very wealthy man, and he'd left a trust fund for my mom, my sister and me. My parents hadn't wanted to touch my mom's trust fund for as long as they could, but they finally caved and used some of the money to hire better lawyers and win the malpractice suit. They paid the debts that had been accumulating and we essentially lost nothing." Edward said, thinking back to those days. "I didn't know that they were thinking of solutions, too absorbed in college and drinking."

He stopped again, this time to check Waze. He knew the way home, of course, but he wanted to see if there was a shortcut. Once he saw there was none, he continued.

"Concerning my living conditions, that's why they didn't change. I still had a hard time with dealing with my parent's stress, though I admire them for handling such a tough situation together." Edward finished, making a U-turn.

"Hey, Edward?" Bella said, looking out the window. Sundown was approaching, and she enjoyed watching the colors of the sky change with the hour.

"Yes?"

"I'm really proud of you," she said honestly. "You've overcome so much. Your parents would be fools not to see what a good man you are," she looked at a lone bird flying up and away. "And I'm not just saying that because you're the guy I chose to date."

He didn't smile, but he felt his chest get warm with love for the girl. Even though they'd been dating for a short amount of time, Edward was sure that this feeling he had every time he looked at his girlfriend was love, pure and simple. He thought she probably knew; she caught him looking at her too often, and she had already heard of how much he spoke of her to his workmates through Rose. He knew all that was left was to tell her; maybe she felt the same way, but it could've also been too soon for her. She was slow in the uptake of feelings, and she panicked easily at the thought of being emotionally involved, so he wasn't sure if she loved him —or, at least, if she _knew_ she loved him. That was always a possibility.

"I'm glad you think so," Edward murmured, turning into his street. He told Bella so.

"That was quick," Bella said, letting out a shaky breath. "Any advice?"

"Yes. They smell fear," Edward said seriously, laughing when she threw him a panicked look. "They're normal parents, sweetheart. I can assure you that your mother is _far_ more intimidating than mine."

If she had managed to survive twenty years under the same roof as that ruthless lawyer without an emotional breakdown, she'd survive meeting his mother.

"You're not funny, mister," Bella scowled, holding in her breath when she saw they'd parked at one of the house's driveway. It was a three-story house with a wide front yard and what seemed to be a big backyard, too. She saw another car was parked, and she assumed that it was Tanya's car. Seeing the name of the street, Bella drew a quick mental map in her head, and found that indeed, Rose's parent's house was only about five minutes away.

"Sorry, sorry. You're cute when you're nervous, have I told you that?"

Bella found personal offense at the adjective 'cute', but said nothing. Instead she huffed, grabbing her apple pie firmly and throwing her door open.

Edward rushed out to help her out.

"I am gonna sniff out all of your baby photo albums and take lots of pictures of them," Bella threatened, thanking him when he helped her close the door. Then she bit her lip. "Should we ring the doorbell?"

He shook his head.

"I have keys." He said, locking the car. He took the pie from Bella, looking like a helpful boyfriend and not the hungry man that he was. He grabbed it with one hand and fished his house keys out with the other, giving them to Bella so she could help him open the front door. Together, they walked to the front, both trying in their own ways to still their nerves.

One minute later, they were dropping off the pie at the kitchen and walking towards the living room, where the Cullen family always chatted before dinner.

 _Bad-ump. Bad-ump._ Edward could hear his heartbeat in his ears, and Bella was pretty sure she could hear _his_ heartbeat, too. It was so strong she could feel it through his palms.

"Mom, dad," Edward said, going into the room.

It was the same as always. Two couches, two love seats. A hearth facing one of the couches. Walls littered with paintings and tables filled with pictures of the family. The furniture was of maroon and golden colors, as always tastefully designed by his mother. His parents were facing the hearth and giving him their back, while Tanya was sitting on one of the love seats. She looked up when she saw her big brother come in, the words dying in her mouth. She hadn't really thought Edward would come, even when he said he wouldn't miss it. Nearly seven years had gone by since he'd stepped foot in this house, after all.

Carlisle and Esme turned at the same time.

"Edward?" Esme gasped, standing up. Looking at her, Bella could see that all of Edward's pigmentation came from her —eyes, copper hair and pale color. On the other hand, when Carlisle stood as well, she could see his facial structure was practically a replica of his father.

 _He-llo, Carlisle Cullen._

 _Stop it Isabella. That's your boyfriend's dad._

"Hi," Edward cleared his throat. Bella gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "I hope it's alright that we decided to drop by for Thanksgiving."

Mr. and Mrs. Cullen both openly gaped.

"Edward! Bella!" Tanya hopped off the couch, pushing her parents so they'd get closer to the petrified couple standing in the entrance to the living room.

"Tan," Edward smiled, accepting a kiss on the cheek from her.

"Hey Tan," Bella smiled nervously, hugging back the girl that threatened to crush the breath out of her.

"Um, son, who's this?" Mrs. Cullen asked, finally coming back from her stupor. She moved closer to the couple, brushing back a piece of soft hair.

Used to seeing it in dramas, Bella felt an urge to dip slightly in a respectful bow, but reminded herself in the last second she was from the West and that would be weird.

"Hi, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen," Bella waved from her spot. "I'm Bella, Edward's girlfriend. I hope it's ok that I came with him."

" _Girlfriend_?" Mr. Cullen's eyes threatened to pop out. After all, last he'd heard, his son was still hopelessly in love with Rosalie.

"Oh, it's more than ok," Mrs. Cullen rushed out, elbowing her rude husband. "You can call me Esme. Mrs. Cullen was my mother-in-law."

Bella let out a small breath.

"Thank you," Bella smiled. "Oh, I also brought apple pie. Tanya told me that was your and Mr. Cullen's favorite dessert."

Mr. Cullen was suddenly fully invested in the conversation.

"Oh, it's Carlisle, please," he gave her a smile that Bella _really_ wished Edward would have when he was older. "You didn't have to, but thank you. I see you and Tanya have already met."

Tan nodded.

"Yeah, she's—" Tanya took a moment to get the connections right. "The younger sister of Rosalie's boyfriend. She's _much_ nicer than her brother, too."

Thankfully, she skipped the part where Emmett punched Edward.

"Oh?" Esme looked between her son and his girlfriend. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Old enough, mom," Edward grumbled, but Bella shot him a look to play nice.

"Twenty, ma'am. But at least eleven years older in my heart," she joked, but neither parent cracked a smile.

 _Shit, my humor was_ not _appreciated._

"Oh, that's… young." Esme said, looking a little shaken by the age.

"Mom," Tanya shot her mother a warning glare, which the older woman caught with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. It was unexpected; Edward's never dated anyone younger than him."

He hadn't, indeed, but she wouldn't have really known, would she? Having missed all these years with him.

"Es, stop it. We haven't even sat down for dinner and already you're interrogating her," Carlisle put a hand on his wife's shoulder. Carlisle, much nicer now with apple pie clearly envisioned, gave them an apologetic smile. "Should we head to the dining table? We were just waiting for you two."

Edward and Bella released a breath of relief.

"That went… ok," Bella tugged Edward down to whisper in his ear. He nodded, pressing his lips together.

All of them headed to a beautifully decorated room, with even more paintings and—

Bella gasped, and they all turned to look at her with expectant faces, wondering what had happened.

She blushed.

"I'm sorry, it's just… is that a kabuki scene painting?" She blushed, pointing at a beautiful Japanese painting.

Esme preened, motioning for all of them to take their seats.

"Yes. Carlisle and I travelled there many years ago and brought it back with us. Gorgeous, isn't it?"

Bella's mouth hung open.

"I'm _so_ jealous," she gushed, thanking Edward when he pulled out her chair for her, then sat down beside her. "I'm majoring in Asia Studies with a Japan concentration. It's my dream to visit Japan, but I've been saving for a while now to go. It's a _tiny_ bit expensive," she smiled, still lost in the painting.

"Oh, it really is. We were counting every yen when Esme and I went," Carlisle agreed. "You've got to spend really carefully."

Bella nodded seriously, too.

"I've been saving for years now. My parents offered to pitch in, but it wouldn't be fair, I think," Bella explained, and Esme grabbed that exact moment to pounce on another question.

"Oh? What is it your parents do?"

 _I should've seen that one coming._

"Mom…" Tanya shook her head, serving herself a glass of wine.

"It's fine," Bella waved Tanya's concern away. "My dad's a teacher, and my mom's a lawyer."

Carlisle perked up.

"Oh? What's her name? Maybe we've heard of her?" He said, asking Tanya to pass him the wine bottle.

"Renée Swan."

Carlisle almost dropped the bottle.

" _Renée Swan_ is your mother?" Both parents stared at her, wide-eyed.

"So says my birth certificate," Bella said, then turned to Edward, lowering her voice. "I feel like my mom sued them."

"We _love_ Renée!" Esme gushed. "She freed us from a lawsuit that had been weighing us down for months in what seemed like a day! We owe her _so_ much."

Edward, Bella and Tanya flickered their eyes between them, not knowing how to answer to that.

"How is she? We remember Clare saying she'd met a lawyer last year whose name she swore she'd heard, but then she never said anything again," Esme said, leaning back on her chair. "What are the odds?"

"She's ok," Bella smiled politely. "Still doing the lawyering thing with excitement. I think they'll have to kick her out to get her to retire."

The Cullen couple chuckled, envisioning the lawyer perfectly. It seemed the years hadn't changed her, and with how grateful they were towards her, they were glad.

"It's a small world," Carlisle smiled at his wife, serving her wine as well. Then he paused, conflicted. "Son? Bella? Would either of you care for a glass of wine?"

 _Is he seriously offering a recovering alcoholic and underage girl wine? Is this a test?_

Again, Bella smiled politely.

"Thanks, but I don't drink."

"You don't? It's alright with us, you don't have to abstain yourself because of your age," Esme said, trying her best to be hospitable in a strange situation. "Unless..."

 _I do it in support of Edward?_

She chuckled, trying to break the tension. Inside, she cursed them for being so inconsiderate.

"What is it with you Cullens that don't believe me when I say I don't drink?" She smiled, showing that she was trying to relieve the pressure. "And Edward has amazing self control. I trust him."

 _You don't know how much your words meant to me_ , Edward would tell her a few days later, when they discussed that part of the dinner.

Bella also wanted to show she was aware of who she was dating.

"He... does?" Esme asked, sounding hopeful. Carlisle said nothing, but Bella could also see the hope in his face. Maybe they'd been disappointed one too many times by their son, and had a hard time trusting him again. Bella thought she should ask Edward later if he'd tried to regain it, or if he'd assumed their faith in him was gone.

So she nodded seriously, instead serving both herself and Edward apple juice.

"He always works really hard on being healthy. I think his worst habit might be—" _me_ , Inner Devilish Bella cackled "— eating fast food, and I have to admit that _could_ be my fault."

Edward snorted good-naturedly.

" _Could_ be? You're on first name basis with the delivery boy by now!" He laughed, and Tanya giggled, too, having witnessed herself the truth to that statement. "I think I've put on weight since we started dating."

Bella shrugged innocently.

"And how long have you two been dating?" Carlisle asked, having finally put away the wine bottle. Good.

"Three years—"

"Two months—"

Edward glared at Bella.

"Three years? Really? We haven't even known each other that long."

Bella shot her eyebrows up in surprise.

" _Really_? Just two months? I could've sworn years had gone by already!" Bella faked shock. "Time crawls by with you."

Offended, Edward grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed Bella's mouth with food.

 _I have to say, being shut up with food is really effective,_ thought Bella, munching happily.

"Do you see what I put up with every time I visit my big brother?" Tanya whined, motioning to the happy couple in front of her.

Carlisle and Esme watched the couple with faces Bella couldn't read.

"You're so cute together," Esme finally decided.

After that, dinner passed by without a hitch. They ate, then drank, and then ate some more. Edward had told Bella that she had to take stretchy pants, because it was a Cullen custom to have Thanksgiving Pants. And just as he'd said, everyone in the table had been wearing sweat pants or leggings. Important part: no buttons or zippers. And when Bella brought out the apple pie? Man, did Bella cry a little bit inside. They all inhaled it at such a velocity she only managed to eat a tiny slice. Even dainty Tanya ate about a fourth of the pie.

"This is..." Carlisle gave a shaky sigh, wiping his mouth. "I can't believe cooking like this exists."

 _I promise to only use my abilities for good and never for evil._

"Thanks. I swiped the recipe from a friend," Bella said, and Edward thought of poor Angela whose curse for life would be to make up recipes her best friend would steal from her and enact better.

Bella had snitched about Ben's text.

"You must pass it to me, dear. I have a feeling my husband will be asking for more pie _exactly_ like this every Thanksgiving."

Entirely possible, thought Carlisle.

"Of course. Thank you for the food, Esme. It was delicious." Bella thanked, meaning it. Judging from the way Edward had inhaled the turkey, she thought maybe she could also ask Mrs. Cullen how she'd done it.

Esme got up with a smile, starting to pile everything up.

"Oh, we'll do that. You cooked, after all." Bella smiled, thinking that Edward owed her one. She leaned to whisper in his ear. "You should talk to your mom while we pick up the dishes."

Gulping, Edward nodded, thanking his girlfriend by giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Esme had started saying no when her son interrupted her.

"Mom, can you come with me for a sec? Bella wants me to find a photo album and I don't know where it is."

Thankfully, she got the hint. Really, they all did.

So as mother and son left the dining room, the three remaining people started stacking up plates.

"So, I see you're very supportive of my son," Carlisle began, and Bella wanted to cry. _Why so blunt?_

She liked being the one _making_ others uncomfortable, not being made uncomfortable.

"Yeah. He's also incredibly supportive of me. He's probably the best guy I've ever met, to be honest." Bella said, grabbing most of the big plates.

Carlisle processed her words, then continued with his own interrogation.

"He was always a very kind boy. Then he hit a rough patch in college and, as I'm sure you know, we've lost contact with him. We... didn't really know if he'd finished med school. He paid for that himself, and Tanya doesn't tell us anything. She's punishing us for not trying harder." Carlisle explained, and Tanya remained silent, knowing that nothing she said would change how her father saw things. She'd tried explaining many times, but had always gotten brushed aside.

"Really?" Bella's eyebrows shot up, and she looked at the older man briefly before continuing to stack dishes. First stacking, then carrying, then washing and drying. That's how it always went in her house. "I figured she was doing that to force your hand into seeing how well he's doing."

Tanya just continued stacking.

"Maybe. Still, we never went. We figured Edward wouldn't be comfortable with us there." Carlisle sighed, looking at his daughter. "He only leaned on Tanya."

 _Tanya's had it rough_ , Bella thought.

"Edward is an open book, Mr. Cullen. I'm sure that whatever he wanted you to do, it showed on his face," Bella said, apologetic for sounding rough. "I'm sure it must've been tough for you to see your son destroying himself. My family saw me self-destruct for years until I finally got a handle on my will power. I never would've gotten there if I hadn't had them by my side, never giving up on me." Bella said, and turned to face the man with a straight back, eyes confident. "I'm sorry if this sounds imprudent. We just met. But all Edward knows is his parents stopped calling, and that they weren't there to welcome him home when he got back from rehab. So it's not me you need to explain things to. It's to the son you abandoned, for all intents and purposes."

Bella wiped a stray tear.

"I'm sorry if I said anything wrong, but I need to protect him, too. He's precious to me."

Carlisle Cullen stayed silent, watching his son's girlfriend wipe stray tears and his daughter silently cry.

He sighed in defeat, torn inside.

"I was worried you were with my son for his money, or for his looks. I didn't want Edward getting too involved one sidedly in the relationship, but I can see it's deeper than that for both of you." Carlisle admitted with a weak shrug of his shoulders. He started choking up, so he cleared his throat. "I'm glad, however, that my son became a man worth standing up for."

Bella almost fell over with relief over not getting in a shouting match.

"He and I both know that _he_ chose _me_ for my looks and quick wit."

-.-

"Oh, I swear I put it somewhere around here..." Esme was mumbling to herself, looking through the bookshelf in her husband's office.

"Mom," Edward said gently. "It's on the top shelf, where it's always been."

She stilled, pursing her lips, hands gripping a book tightly. Slowly, she let go of it, letting her fingers pull away from the leather-bound pages. She turned to see her son sitting on the divan, legs stretched out. He motioned with his eyes for her to sit on the ottoman next to him.

Esme sat.

"I..." Esme swallowed hard, suddenly wishing she'd eaten less. The food was threading to crawl out, and she was desperately trying not to cry.

"Can I go first?" Edward asked gently.

Silently, she nodded.

So he spoke. Edward told his mother of his journey in rehab, of the struggle that was med school the first year, when he still had strong urges to drink due to stress. How he had worked his way to a respectable hospital, and how he'd told Rosalie of his feelings a few months ago, in order to have a clean slate with Bella. How Isabella Swan was the first woman who'd made him feel as if his previous addictions were not the curse he'd always thought them to be, because she lived with her own struggles every day without pitying herself or giving up. How she'd told him she didn't believe in quitting cold turkey, but was glad he had. How they'd supported each other. After he'd spent ten minutes talking about her, he flushed, deciding to talk of something else.

So he told her of how hurt he'd been over his parents seemingly giving up on him, even though he'd felt driven against a wall because of them. He told her that it had taken him years to own up to his mistakes and stop placing the blame on them, although the anger and pain over them not making a bigger effort to see him was still present. He lamented them not seeing him grow and own up to his responsibilities, and how with the years his relationship with Tanya had morphed and strengthened into something unbreakable.

Edward took his time with his monologue, not wanting to be rash with the things he'd waited to say for so long. They were too important to be said lightly, and too foreign to be said with anger. He'd had time, after all, to digest and rationalize how he felt, to the point where he was almost speaking of somebody else's feelings.

"Why now?" Esme asked, and Edward knew what she implied.

"Because I finally realized just how happy I am, and how I'm not willing to be unhappy because of anyone else. My grudge against you and dad has taken too much from me already, and I'm ready to move on. I decided for the first time to be happy."

 _To be the best self I can be._

"Not because of Bella? She didn't pressure you into this?" She asked, worried despite herself.

"She just suggested I talk to you two. Nothing else. I..." Edward gulped. "I love Bells. But my happiness can't be _because_ of her. I think it's a huge burden to feel like you alone hold someone up, and I don't want that load on Bella. So, I've decided to tie up the loose ends I had interfering with that intrinsic happiness."

Esme leaned forward to hold Edward's hands in hers.

"I love you _so_ much, Edward. You're my son. You're always in every step I take and in every meal I cook. I don't have an excuse good enough as to why I didn't try harder to reach out to you. I... your father and I... gave up on you," her eyes watered, feeling the weight of his green eyes on hers. "And I'm _s-so_ glad that you managed to push forward despite how weak we were. Are." Esme cleared her throat, willing herself not to cry just yet, despite the ball of feelings growing inside of her. "I hope you give us another chance."

And even though Edward didn't know if they deserved it, he gave her a smile.

"You're my family. I will _always_ give you another chance."

* * *

"I'm _not_ having sex, mother!" Bella snapped, horrified at her mom's insistence.

"But I'm willing to bet you will, someday!" Renée snapped back, placing her hands on her hips. "You'll want protection then, right?" She continued, tapping her heel on the ground impatiently and waving a box of birth control pills around. "Besides, what the hell do you do then all the time with Edward? _Talk_?"

Bella wanted the Earth to open up a tiny hole through which it could suck her mother down and then spit her back on the other side of the globe.

It was a few days after Thanksgiving, and when Renée Swan had learnt of how her daughter had actually gone to dinner and then straight back home, she'd started freaking out about Bella and Edward's relationship. _Are you having sex? Why not? Does he have... problems? Are you lying to me about it?_

Needless to say, her mother was a busybody of the worst kind. As in, the kind that actually had you worrying about it another three days later and discussing it with your boyfriend.

"Why aren't we having sex?" Bella demanded to know.

Edward froze.

 _Is this a trick question?_

"Uh... because we're in public?" He guessed, motioning to the not-empty parking lot. Bella had come to pick him up from a shift, and they were going to go to the gym. Still, her question was aptly asked, seeing as she made it while wearing tight yoga pants (or whatever the hell those leggings-like gym pants women wore these days were called) and one of his basketball shirts with a sports bra underneath. In other words: her question made him ask himself _why_ they weren't having sex right now.

Bella was not amused.

"I mean _at all_ , doofus. In a couple of weeks we'll have been dating three months, and you haven't even copped a feel. I admit I might not have much boobs, but I have an ass, damn it." Bella raged, horrified to think she might've gotten saddled with a boob man when all she had to offer was butt.

Edward asked himself if this girl was for real.

"Are you feeling ok?" He asked instead, approaching her. She'd caught him with that question when he'd been a few feet away, probably too impatient to wait another second without her answer.

She flickered her eyes to the sides.

"Bella."

She sighed.

"Fine, it's all my mother's fault. I think she thinks we're faulty because we haven't jumped each other."

Edward wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin (actually, under his neck —she was rather small compared to him).

"I'm sorry I respect you enough not to jump you without knowing you're ready for it," Edward apologized, and swore he could feel her smile against his chest.

"I suppose I'll get over it," sighed Bella, hugging him tighter. "Thanks for not pressuring me. I know it must've been... hard."

He pulled away from her with surprising speed, giving her a horrified look.

"I can't believe you just made a dirty joke!" He gasped in outrage, watching her try to hold back a smile.

"What can I say? Normal jokes blow," her lip twitched, trying with all her might not to laugh.

"I... I can't..." Edward fanned himself, placing a hand on his hip and leaning slightly forward. "I can't believe this is the woman I'm dating."

"Worse still, you love her," Bella agreed.

"Yeah. That—" he lost all color on his face. "What?"

Bella gave him a sly smile.

"You love me, don't you?"

He thought he felt all his blood form solid blocks of iron at his feet, leaving him lightheaded.

"Uh..."

He was brilliant.

He was a rookie.

"Only _everyone_ who's ever seen us together has told me you look at me like you love me," she explained casually, stepping towards him again. "If the fact that everything you do to make me happy wasn't enough of a clue," Bella continued, lacing her right hand with his left. "Also, I was listening in on your conversation with your mom. Sorry about that."

She didn't sound _too_ sorry, to be honest.

He cleared his threat several times, trying to regain strength in his vocal cords.

He was articulate.

"I... uh..."

He was a work in progress.

So Bella helped him. She stood on her tip toes and laced her fingers behind his neck, beaming up at him.

"I love you too. Prudish tendencies and all."

He was giving her a bruising kiss before she could think of something else to tease him with. It was short, however, because he buried his face in her neck almost immediately after, needing to hold her as close as possible.

"I'm seriously pissed you don't let me do anything romantic," Edward mumbled, but he didn't sound _too_ put off, so Bella didn't take him all that seriously.

"You're plenty romantic," Bella comforted him. "You brought me chocolate for our first date right?"

He chuckled.

"I forgot, food is the way to a woman's heart, too." He swayed them from side to side, humming a tune.

"Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

Her heart warmed.

"Can we skip the gym?"

"No."

Her heart returned to normal pretty quickly.

* * *

"It's Christmas! Christmas! Everyone, it's Christmas!" Bella sang, going around the house spreading joy. In other words, hiding chocolate chip cookies in jars her mom had bought so her daughter could have Christmas as she wanted.

"It's Christmas _Eve_ , Rie," Charlie corrected, but as always, was ignored by his daughter.

"It's Christmas, dad. That's what matters." Bella said, eating one cookie and leaving another in the jar.

It had been three weeks since Edward and Bella confessed their feelings for each other. True to his word, Edward hadn't let Bella get out of going to the gym, although he was more lenient and they left after exactly one hour (including shower time), which rarely happened. After that, Edward had taken her to his apartment, where they had one of the hottest make-out sessions of her life, which ended when Edward copped a feel of her ass which threw them both into a laughing fit.

 _Silent night, holy night—_

"Hello?" Bella answered, leaving her joy spreading for a moment. She was the type of festive girl that had everything Holiday related when the opportunity presented itself. Right now, she had Christmas-y ringtones, nails painted red and green, a green bra and red underwear, candy cane earrings... you get the picture. Christmas threw up on her.

"Bella? Are you ready to go or what?" Angela barked at her, making her flinch away from her phone.

"Give me five minutes."

Bella was going to spend Christmas Eve with Ange and her family. Apparently, because the Swans hosted the Hales for Thanksgiving, it was now their turn to host the Swan family. Bella had turned down the invitation, saying she'd rather spend the night at Angela's, and her parents had allowed it because they knew she'd be bored there, third-wheeling it. Edward was on call and the Hale household was too far from the hospital, so he wouldn't join them. The Cullen family hadn't yet finished mending itself, so Edward wouldn't be spending Christmas Eve with them, although he promised to swing by the next day.

This was how Bella had decided to work out an elaborate plan that ended with her and Edward finally doing the dirty.

She was horny and he was a sexy, lovable man, damn it. She'd lie to her family and she'd lie happily.

"Sorry for the wait," Bella said, hopping into Angela's car. She'd had to hurriedly grab her overnight bag, stuff her mouth with more cookies and bid adieu to her parents. She promised to call her brother later so he wouldn't feel too neglected, and then she ran out to meet Angela the Impatient.

"About time. You got everything you need?" Ange asked, already backing out of the driveway.

Bella patted her bag.

"Double checked and everything."

She was about to say something else when—

 _Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the—_

"Hello?"

"Bella? It's Jasper." Jasper greeted unnecessarily.

Rolling her eyes, Bella shared a look with Angela, who was waiting to see who it was.

"Hey Jazz," Bella greeted back, and the eye roll Ange gave was so hard her eyes should've rolled into the back of her head. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to—"

"We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas!" Alice suddenly shouted, and once more, Bella flinched away from the phone. "You're on speaker, by the way."

"Hey Alice," Bella greeted, amused by Angela's murderous face. She was taking it way too seriously. "Merry Christmas to you too."

"Sorry, we're actually buying time for Ms. R—"

"Hello?" A new voice greeted, giving Bella pause. "Bella, it's Jane, Jasper's mother."

Angela saw the change in Bella's expression, and quickly pulled over to the side of the road. She didn't know if she'd have to give her moral support, and she didn't want to be driving in case she did.

"Hello, Ms. Russo," Bella greeted back quietly, making Angela's eyebrows shoot up into her hairline. She hadn't been that surprised by Jasper and Alice calling; after all, it had been a few weeks since Bella had made up with both of them, explaining to Angela that she wanted to let bygones be bygones.

"I've wanted to call you for a while now," Ms. Russo explained. "But I didn't know how to say this in person, so I asked Jasper to help me contact you."

Bella didn't reply.

"I wanted to apologize for how I treated you while you dated Jasper," Ms. Russo continued, and Bella remembered Jasper saying something about convincing his mother to apologize to her, back before they broke up. "I was bitter from the divorce, and took it out on you. Seeing you comfort Jasper during my ex-husband's funeral, even though you weren't together anymore..." her heart clenched, remembering seeing her sobbing son being held in a tiny girl's arms. "I finally understood how petty I'd been. I hope you'll forgive me, even if not now, someday."

It surprised Bella how little she cared anymore about Jane Russo's mean persona that had surfaced around her. Time had gone by, and with every passing day she'd thought less and less about anything conceding Jasper and his family. She still cared about him, obviously, and every once in a while she'd see or do something that would remind her of his ex-boyfriend, yet they were nothing but passing thoughts. Memories. That was how Bella envisioned the woman that could've been her mother-in-law: a memory.

"I forgive you, Ms. Russo," Bella stated, shocking the woman and her best friend. "I'm rather happy right now. I wouldn't want to tarnish that with holding on to resentment." Bella said, knowing in her heart this was the only reply she could give. "I do hope, though, that you're treating Alice much better."

"Of course," Jane said, looking at her son and his girlfriend. "I'm even rooting now for Jasper to drop Maria. She's become such an insolent thing."

Despite having no lingering feelings for Jasper, Bella fist pumped. She'd hated that girl.

"And, thank you. Much as it pains me, I can admit to myself now that everything really _had_ been in my head, and you weren't the terrible girl I thought you to be."

 _Is that a compliment?_

As Angela saw that the crisis had been averted, she pulled out, resuming the drive to her home.

"Thanks," Bella said dryly. "You too."

-.-

 _I don't want a lot for Christmas—_

"Hello?"

"He's on his way," Rose whispered. "I'd say he'll make it in ten."

"Roger. And thanks, I owe you one," Bella said before hanging up.

It was now half past seven, and Bella had sneaked into Edward's apartment with Rose's help. First, she'd had Angela help her out with a few things —namely, waxing her legs and mustache. It hurt too much and she couldn't do it alone, but toughed it out for her bikini line, unwilling to be in _that_ kind of friendship. Too close for comfort. After that, she called Rose to ask for a favor; since she wasn't working today, Bella needed an informant of Rosalie's choice that would alert when Dr. Cullen had left the building, seeing as he'd be heading home to be on call there. Then she had Angela drop her off at Edward's apartment, where she dug out the hidden key to get in. It was in like the other side of the building, but luckily, she'd slyly gotten the information out of Edward a few weeks prior.

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away," Bella sang out loud, doing the finishing touches of her Christmas dinner. She made sure the cutlery was perfectly aligned and the lasagna unburnt. "This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special."

She was a horrible singer, but one filled with passion.

Singing all throughout the ten minutes between Rose's call and Edward's arrival, she realized within that timespan she should think of her singing skills as a national secret. She could probably shoot a bird down with her pitch or something.

When she spied Edward arrive while peeking through the window, she hurried to turn off all the lights. She didn't like being surprised, but she liked doing the surprising.

Going to stand by the dining table (which fit four people, but then again, he rarely ever _had_ four people over), Bella waited impatiently. She heard the lock turn, and then a strip of white from the light bulbs outside, and then he was in.

Frowning from his terrible mood, Edward almost slammed the door closed. It had been a long day, and three sets of parents had shouted at him over not doing his job right —which he couldn't do because their kids wouldn't be still long enough to get simple procedures done. Then Emily, the doctor he'd had casual sex with every once in a while, had thrown a fit when she'd learnt that he had a girlfriend now —and because doctors were huge gossips, everyone knew said girlfriend was much younger than him. As if that hadn't been enough, one of the residents under his care had screwed up with writing down a dose on the nurse's sheet, and he'd gotten so angry over the mistake that could've been fatal he swore he could still hear himself shouting. He wasn't a yeller by nature, but the resident's mistake had shook him. The only good thing about the situation was that the nurse in charge had found the doses odd and had consulted with him, which saved the child. If all that hadn't been bad enough, he wouldn't be seeing Bella today.

He turned on the light.

"Surprise!"

Instantly, his mood changed for the better.

"Bells!" He smiled, and Bella saw from the distance how his worry lines were replaced by laugh lines.

 _That's most definitely love._

"I thought I would keep a hardworking pediatrician company while he's on call," Bella said casually. "Do you think my boyfriend would mind?"

He sniffed the air.

"I think he'll make up his mind after eating whatever smells so good." He finally approached Bella, putting his hands on her waist and giving her a deep kiss. "Maybe sooner," he murmured against her lips, pouting when she pulled away.

"Come on, let's eat. I'm starving and the food will get cold," Bella rushed him, wanting to see his face when he finally saw the food she'd prepared.

Tugging him, she sat him down on his usual chair, then told him to wait as she went to the kitchen to bring out the Pyrex.

 _Food, food, food_ , Edward sang in his head, really looking forward to his dinner. It was a bit past seven, and last time he'd eaten the sun had been up and he'd been at work for just a little while.

"Incoming!" Bella crowed, approaching her boyfriend from behind and suddenly putting in front of him the lasagna.

It took him less than a second to realize what it was.

" _Lasagna_!" He cried happily, yanking Bella's hand to him and giving it a kiss. "You know how to make a hungry man happy."

She sincerely thought she could've given him concrete and he'd have said it was delicious as he shat bricks.

"Well, when I was thinking of what to make for you I remembered you pouting about me giving Rose lasagna and lying to you about it. So, to make up for your grievances, herein what I think is my best lasagna yet."

An hour later, when all the food had been polished and they were leaning back on their chairs with pants threatening to burst, Edward agreed.

"That was your best meal yet," he groaned, feeling the movement disturb his stomach's peace.

Rubbing her belly, Bella humbly agreed, too.

"It was. I fear I'll puke it out, though," she groaned, feeling like doing one movement wrong would end up with her looking like she'd gotten food poisoning.

Edward got a page in that moment, and horrified, he threw Bella a guilty look.

"I'm so sorry, love. I—"

"You don't have to explain it to me. I understand," Bella said, knowing it was no use to complain about something that was out of his control. Besides; she really doubted this would be the last time it happened, and she suspected she'd get sick of apologies if he said them enough.

"I love you," he sighed, getting up from the table. Pushing herself up, she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"I love you too," she mumbled, then released him. "Now go before I decide to follow you to the hospital."

She wasn't kidding.

Both of them knew this.

* * *

Edward came back almost at midnight. This time, when he turned on the lights, there was no shout of surprise. It was completely silent, which made Edward assume that Bella had fallen asleep waiting for him. His heart bunched up, and he promised himself one day he'd be having his own office so he could control his working hours and not have to but his w-girlfriend through things like this again.

Tiptoeing throughout the apartment, Edward saw that Bella had done the dishes, and he could perfectly picture her growling and washing. He left his keys and shoes outside of the bedroom, wanting to disturb Bella very little if he got paged again (if the page itself didn't wake her).

Imagine his surprise when he went into his bedroom to find a semi-naked girlfriend lounging on his bed, reading a manga volume.

She turned to him in surprise.

"Shit."

This wasn't part of the plan. She never could've been so forward as to welcome her boyfriend in her underwear, but while she'd been washing the dishes she'd gotten dirty with sauce and then wet with... water. So she'd taken out her 'just-in-case' book (these books apply for whatever situation; just in case you get bored, just in case your significant other runs off to the hospital, just in case you get stuck in traffic, etc.), whipped off all wet or dirty items of clothes and decided to veg on Edward's bed, hoping she'd have time to hear him arrive and put on some clothes.

No such luck.

"I can explain," Bella began nervously, but couldn't continue. Edward was taking off his pants, then his shirt. He approached her in side of the bed wearing boxers and socks. She was also wearing socks; it was too cold and neither of them felt like taking them off to look sexier. After all, neither thought the other would find frostbite to be sexy, either.

Edward set his beeper next to the bed.

"All I need to know is if you're ready," he said huskily, stopping right next to her. In this light, which fell almost directly on her because the only source of light came from the lamp next to his bed, Edward could see the stretch marks Bella hated so much. Most of them he'd never seen, but now looked silvery and stood out. Most were on her belly, but he could see she had some in her inner thighs.

His desire for her didn't wane.

Bella saw that.

Instead of answering with words, she answered with actions: she sat up, and keeping eye contact with him, she took off her green bra. Then she stood on the bed, and her eyes were just slightly higher than Edward's. Neither looked away from each other's eyes, even as Bella dragged down her panties and sat down to lower his boxers.

This was her answer, and Edward acknowledged that by bending, giving her a bruising kiss and pushing her until she was lying on her back, hair spread out among the pillows and lips red from his kisses.

"I love you."

The words welled out of him.

"I love you."

He repeated this as he pushed inside his girlfriend, tasting glory and thanking Mrs. Swan for insisting that Bella be on the pill.

"I love you."

He shouted this as he was joined by his girlfriend with her second orgasm.

"I love you."

He said this while holding her in his arms, thankful he hadn't been paged as he made love to his future wife for the first time ever.

"I love you, too."

She said this in reply to every confession of love Edward provided.

* * *

 **Hiya! So, if you'll notice, chapter 13 is a bit longer than the last few chapters. This is directly caused by my airheadedness. I planned the last few chapters and I, in no moment, thought of when these two would say 'I love you' to each other or when they'd finally do the dirty. I guess I put the part about Eddie being in a bad mood because I was in a pretty shady mood a few days ago, and when I came home it slowly started undoing. I was a bit short with my mother (never rude, just blatantly out of it), but that's because I also think family's where you can be bitchy every once in a while and you will eventually come out of it. I've never seen either of my parents be mean to each other because of being in a bad mood, or disrespectful. So that's why I felt justified in making Edward's mood flip that way, though I understand sometimes feelings are more complex and won't be assuaged just by seeing the person you're in love with.**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. Boy, am I glad I decided to shorten the author's note.**

 **P. P. S. This is a pick me up from the current presidential situation. Whatever your political affiliation (and if you're a U.S. citizen or not), it's been a rough year I think. Too much hate has gone around, and hopefully, we'll learn from this for the next elections. :)**

 **P. P. P. S. As always, your reviews make me incredibly happy. I like it when y'all tell me something that leaves me thinking like, 'Huh, I guess that comes down to different personalities'. I know some of the things these characters say won't be something you'd do, and maybe not even something _I'd_ do, but maybe for some of you this will sound like something you've done or you'd do. Leave me some love!**


	14. Waiting for Forever

**DISCLAIMER: This chapter has many flash forwards and flashbacks. Sorry for the inconveniences. Also, still don't own Twilight. ONLY THE EPILOGUE LEFT!**

* * *

[3 years and a half later]

"And I'm telling you we're not getting back together!" Vicky snapped for the billionth time, stabbing her fork into the salad.

"But he made a mistake, Vicky. Shouldn't you give him a chance?"

"No. I'm done with chances, and he's gonna have to find some other girl who's willing to be a stay-at-home mom for him," Vicky huffed, stuffing her mouth with lettuce.

Bella sighed, not knowing how to convince her friend to let go.

"He was shocked by you saying you wanted to cover stories abroad. You want to go into _war zones_ , Vicky. He didn't even say he wanted a stay-at-home wife, he just said he wanted a _breathing_ girlfriend," Bella explained, for once not caving under the pressure of her friend's glare. She felt totally intimidated, but in a complete betrayal of their friendship, she had to side with King James. She also didn't want her friend dying for journalism, selfish as that might be.

"That's bullshit and you know it. We've been dating for three years, and that asshole hasn't even asked me to marry him. I'm _not_ gonna decide my future based on what a man who doesn't have the balls to bind himself to me legally says." Victoria growled through the lettuce in her mouth, spraying a bit on the table. "Sorry."

Mouth pressed into a flat line, Bella ignored it.

"Well, that's another issue entirely. If _you_ want to get married and he doesn't, you have two options. Either you stay with him and wait for the day he miraculously changes his mind, or you find someone who does. I don't see the point in making yourself miserable over something you're so clear you want," Bella said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Vicky scowled fiercely.

"Get that obnoxious rock away from me," she pointed at Bella's engagement ring, but she didn't budge.

"No. You could have this too, if you wanted." She turned her nose up, even scratching her cheek with her left hand so Vicky could get a better look.

"Fuck you and your perfect fiancé," Vicky pouted, wallowing in self pity over _her_ useless ex-boyfriend.

"We aren't into threesomes."

On her way home from lunch, Bella thought of the turn her life had taken, and the key points that had made her be where she was today.

* * *

"Is this for me?" Bella asked the morning of Christmas Day, when she found a small box with a ribbon on top lying next to her. Thankfully for the two, Edward hadn't been called in again, and he had the day off. The night had been spent making love and having raw sex -only low curses and each other's name could be heard after their first time together. They'd fallen asleep shortly after that, both of them drained; then a couple of hours later Edward had woken Bella up with sweet kisses down her neck, needing her again. A few hours after that, when the sun had shown signs of rising, Bella had woken Edward up with her own trail of kisses down his chest, needing him like she'd never needed anyone more. Sex with Jasper had been bland, normal, maybe even sweet because they'd loved each other. With Edward, every push inside threatened to unravel her, and every time he backed away left her fearful that he wouldn't thrust back in. It had been an irrational fear, of course, because he wouldn't stop until both of them had found their own release. Sex with Edward was everything.

He nodded.

Cautiously, she opened it, her eyes bulging as she held up the object to her boyfriend's face.

"You got me a key!" Bella exclaimed, stating the obvious. Smiling, he nodded.

"I figure you should be able to come here anytime you want and surprise me whenever." Edward explained, smiling when she launched herself at him and peppered his face with kisses.

"I love you," she repeated, over and over again.

"What about my Christmas gift?" Edward asked, once they'd had breakfast and (he'd) cleaned the dishes.

She gave him a blank look.

"Was the lasagna yesterday not enough?" Bella asked, enjoying when she saw his reddening face.

"It was, love. Thank you for making it." He instantly replied, making a smile spread across Bella's face.

"Of course I got you something, silly," she said, making him follow her to her overnight bag. He waited as she dug around, then turned around with a broad smile on her face.

"It's a new first aid kit! I figured you never know when Emmett might punch you again and you'll need to be better equipped."

-.-.-

"Edward, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Bella sobbed, banging on the door to his bedroom. It was silent on the other side, which pulled at Bella's insides.

They were currently in the middle of a fight. One that was sort of her fault, even if her intentions had been mostly misunderstood.

First, they'd been in the middle of a cold war because of Bella's jealousy. _Justified_ jealousy, but jealousy nevertheless. Bella had gone to visit Edward at the hospital, still high from the feeling of having hit her one year anniversary with him. She didn't visit him as often at the hospital anymore, needing to take extra courses on Japanese to complete a level of language proficiency to do a sequenced MA-PhD once she finished undergrad. That, coupled with Edward's fellowship, meant they'd been having to fight for time together during their regular schedule. So when she'd gone to visit her boyfriend to find him hugging a female doctor, she'd been seriously annoyed.

"Edward?"

Edward had felt his blood freeze inside his body, hearing the chilly undertone in his girlfriend's voice. With inhuman strength, he'd managed to do what he hadn't during the last five minutes: he pushed Emily off.

"Bells!" Edward had exclaimed, admittedly looking very relieved and not too guilty when his eyes made contact with his girlfriend. He'd closed the distance between them, letting himself be pulled down by the lab coat for a hello kiss.

It had been too short.

"So, _this_ is the infamous girlfriend?" Emily had approached them, looking way too much like a villainous character and not enough like a doctor. "I see you downgraded, Edward."

 _Downgraded? Excuse you, you bitch?_

Frowning, she'd turned up to look at her boyfriend, who'd just flinched.

 _Are you going to defend me or what?_ Bella's eyes asked.

Or what.

"Emily, be nice. Bella, this is Emily, my colleague." He'd explained, shivering at the obvious anger coming from Emily.

"Colleague? That's what you'll call me? Fine," she'd snorted, giving Bella the once over. "Good luck with this shitty guy. He'll dump you as soon as he gets tired of fucking you, or when things start getting serious."

She'd stomped away, leaving a furious Bella with Edward.

"Who the _fuck_ was she, Edward?" Bella had all but screeched, needing to remind herself this was a hospital. She'd grabbed his elbow, leading him out to the nearest exit so she could raise her voice as much as she wanted. "No, actually, what I want to know is why she insulted me _to my face_ and you did nothing to defend me. 'Be nice'? What the hell?" Bella had fumed, and Edward hadn't known what to say.

"Um… I'm bad with conflict?"

Her scalding glare had confirmed for him that hadn't been the right answer.

"I'll be busy this week. Don't call or text me." Bella had snapped, too angry to think straight. It wasn't that she'd thought he was cheating, but the aspect of him not defending her had threatened to drown her in anger and jealousy.

She'd turned, and he'd caught her by the wrist.

"Seriously? You're not even gonna let me explain?" Edward had asked, tone disbelieving as he ran the other hand through his hair.

She'd shaken him off with one hard tug, eyes burning.

"Maybe once I stop feeling so _humiliated_ ," Bella had said, going away faster then so he wouldn't be able to catch her.

Bella had received a call from Rose a couple of days later, with the girl explaining that Edward had had a sex buddy, which was Emily, who'd been bitter over him not liking him enough to start an actual relationship with her. Emily had been stewing on her insults for a year, Rose had explained, and Edward had known that she was the type of vindictive person to spread rumors if he'd shaken her off more violently or made her feel like she'd 'lost' in front of Bella.

"But _I'm_ his girlfriend. It's _me_ he should've been concerned about," Bella had replied, wiping away the tears that had slipped.

"He was, and he feels terrible he couldn't think of a better solution. He never wanted you to know he'd had a sex friend, and he was probably flustered by you finding out about her."

Bella's nostrils had flared, now with anger towards her future sister-in-law.

"Well, this isn't productive now, is it? You're gonna defend your best friend no matter what, disregarding completely how _I_ felt about it." Bella had hung up on her, and had sought solace from another person who could've understood her.

"You're being a brat and you should apologize," Alice had replied easily enough, making Bella's mouth drop. After time had healed wounds, she and Ali had renovated their friendship. They were great friends, and they probably would've been much closer if not for the initial fallout. "What does Angela have to say about this?"

"I'd rather stick my hand in a box with slugs than tell _Angela_ about it." Bella had said indignantly. "She pulls no punches, and right now that _she's_ on a break with Ben, she'd tell me to break up with Edward. I don't want that."

"True. Anyway, I've also got a dash of reality for you: you overreacted and left before he could even apologize. You let your temper get the best of you. You should also apologize to Rose for hanging up on her, by the way. That wasn't good."

 _Where have my friends gone?_ Bella had asked herself.

"Also, don't go around asking everyone you know for input. Knowing you, you'll ask Edyth or Nyla, then move on to any of your high school friends to back you up if they didn't. This is your fight with Edward."

Then Alice had hung up.

 _I am officially friendless._

So she'd gone to a trusty source the next day: her brother.

"He's cheating on you. You should dump him," he'd stated, switching the channel he was watching to a rerun of Iron Chef.

"He's not!" Bella had exclaimed indignantly.

"Of course he's not, you moron. That man worships the ground you walk on," Emmett had rolled his eyes, protesting when Bella had stood between him and the TV.

"Take this seriously. Do _you_ think I overreacted, too?" Bella had asked, giving him such hurt eyes Em had to turn off the show. He'd patted the spot next to him on the couch, then put an arm around his little sister when she sat.

"You overreacted." Em had agreed, making her pout.

"But—"

"No buts, Rie. You could've handled that with more grace, and you didn't. He also could've been more straightforward with his fuck buddy, too, but I just can't see him being like that."

Bella's mouth had dropped in outrage.

"The first words he told me were 'who the fuck are you'! And that's when he thought I was your side thing. Isn't it logical for me to expect a bit more from him?" She'd cried out, refusing to believe she was wrong.

Em had seen her point, but hadn't budged.

"He also hadn't known who you were. You and Emily, on the other hand, have in common that he's—"

"I swear if you tell me he's fucked us both I'm going to break every piece of glass in this apartment."

"—had a relationship of some sort with you both. Give him a break, will you?" Em had diverted quickly, thinking of how well his sister knew him. "You didn't even give him a chance to explain, did you?"

Guilty as charged.

She'd spent the rest of the week thinking of what to do, leaving Edward on read and ignoring his calls. He'd even shown up at her house, but she'd hid in her room and had threatened her mother that if she let Edward in she'd name her firstborn Helga, the name of Mrs. Swan's nemesis.

By the time one week had gone by since their fight, she'd come to the conclusion that there was only one thing she could do.

So she'd called Jake and asked him to meet.

After the ER fiasco, they'd kept in touch. Bella because she'd wanted to check he'd survived, and he because he felt grateful she'd cared enough to keep an eye on him. He'd told her he owed her one, and she'd figured it was time to cash it in.

"Are you sure about this, Bella?" Jake had asked, face dangerously close to hers. She'd been having to remind Jake that she liked a two feet distance between them, what with how much he still tried getting into her pants.

"Yeah. Come on, let's do this before he gets here," Bella had replied; Jake had been crushed when he'd heard that Bella was taken, and had pulled back a little, but not completely. Enough for Bella to withstand, too much for her to attempt to form an actual friendship with him.

"I'm gonna need you to hold this," Jake had said, sitting down on the ground. She'd done as told, helping him with whatever he'd needed. Twenty minutes later, they'd been done, and overjoyed, she'd let Jake give her a bone crushing hug. Honestly, they were are awful lot like Emmett's.

"What are you doing to my girlfriend?" A deadly voice had asked, and startled, Jake had dropped Bella and let his wrench drop on Edward's velocimeter, causing it to get completely shattered. Suddenly, Edward's focus had changed.

"Gertrude!" He'd rushed to his bike's side, moaning as he saw the fragile board that hadn't been able to withstand the heavy tool. Glaring, he'd spat at Jake. "Leave."

"No! He—"

"Were you trying to destroy my bike out of anger or something?" Edward had snapped, pushing away from his beloved bike. "You should go, too. I have to make a call."

Then he'd stomped away.

"Sorry Jake," Bella had said apologetically. "And thanks for your help. I'll deal with the rest."

Which brought her to now, begging Edward to open up his door so she could explain what had happened.

She'd hurt Gertrude, which was a big no no in Edward's book.

"Edward, please," Bella cried, snot running down her face. "I was wrong, alright? Please let me explain. Please, Edgar …" She didn't use his nickname much anymore, but she felt this was necessary.

Still he didn't open.

 _Is this what it's like to be ignored?_

Her crying intensified, and she fell to the ground, feeling the weight of her recent meanness fall on her shoulders.

"Edward, please…" she sobbed, banging her hand against the door. "I brought Jake to _fix_ Gertrude! He's a great mechanic, and I wanted him to fix that annoying noise it had been making!"

The door opened.

"You wanted to fix Gertrude?" Was the first thing he asked, squatting down so he was at eye level with his sobbing girlfriend. Maybe he'd overdone it with his anger, but it had been bottling up. Bella ignoring him had gotten him in a terrible mood all week long, and it didn't make things any better that he couldn't let it show in front of his patients or coworkers. Then, when he'd been pulling into the apartment's parking lot in his car, all he'd been able to see was the monster of a boy that was Jake hugging his unresistant girlfriend. Worse still, he understood then what Bella must've felt when she'd seen Emily hugging him and him not shaking her off.

"I did," Bella sniffled, wiping away her tears harshly. Things hadn't gone as planned, which frustrated her to no end. "I wanted to apologize, and thought fixing your beloved bike would be a nice gesture."

Her lip quivered, but she stilled her urge to cry.

Their first real fight ended with Edward hugging Bella and telling her a single thing.

"Make up to me for the burst dash by cooking for me a month's worth of chocolate chip cookies any time I ask."

And so, Edward also gained ten pounds in a month.

-.-.-

"Congrats, big bro," Bella cried into her brother's neck, who swung her around as they waltzed. It was his wedding reception, after all, and he'd demanded of Bella to learn dancing for his special day.

"Thanks, Rie," he mumbled into her neck, wanting to cry as well. This day marked a whole new journey for him and Rose, and he couldn't wait to see what was to come.

"You'll make beautiful children together," Bella continued, and Emmett agreed wholeheartedly.

"They'll have to have Rose's smile, because mine sucks," he said, and Bella agreed with him.

The two siblings continued crying insult-like compliments for a while, ignoring the couple behind them that was also bawling their eyes out.

"Our baby!" Renée cried, her tears being matched by her husband.

"Our son!" He cried back, mustache twitching.

"It took so long to marry him off," Renée continued, and her husband nodded along. "We thought we'd have to pay someone to accept him with how long it took him."

Charlie wiped away some of his wife's tears.

"Thirty-three years old," they moaned together, thinking of what a close call it had been. They were both aware that Bella would probably marry Edward, and that she'd seal the deal much earlier than her brother. This saddened them, because their daughter would be moving out, but made them happy, too, because that probably meant she'd give them more grandchildren sooner rather than later.

"You're married!" Edward repeated for the nth time, holding Rose close. He had been Rose's maid of honor, while Bella had been Emmett's best man. The roles had been switched, but neither would have it any other way.

"I know!" Rose beamed back, letting him give her a twirl. "Tell me, are the idiot Swans still crying?"

Edward looked behind her shoulder, then shook his head.

"Their newest addition isn't. Remember, _you're_ a part of the idiot Swans now, too." Edward said, and nothing would've made Rose happier in that moment.

"I am," she said, giving him a large smile. He looked at her pensively.

"Hey Ro. Did you know? I always believed you and I would end up married, even when I didn't like you that way," he confessed.

She gave him a pensive look, too.

"You know what? I always did, too," she admitted, getting another twirl. "Our mothers pushed us together too much for me to believe otherwise."

He agreed with the analysis.

"I'm glad we didn't," he said. "I still want you in my life forever, but like my children's aunt —holy shit I think I'll get my wish!" It dawned on him then, and giving him a confused look, Rose waited for him to elaborate. "Don't you see? We're marrying siblings! That means _you'll_ be the legal aunt of my children, and _I'll_ be the legal uncle of yours."

The wondered at that for a few moments.

"You're assuming Bella would marry you though," Rose pointed out, making Edward scoff.

"Please. I'd chase her to Hell and back if she didn't agree to marry me." He said in all seriousness, and Rose had no doubt that he meant it.

"Nice. Love through fear."

In the distance, they heard Mr. Hale also crying in happiness that their daughter had married off. _Just_ him, because Clare Hale was busy drinking herself into oblivion alongside Esme Cullen, both being faced with the harsh reality that their families wouldn't be joined in holy matrimony. They each liked their son and daughter in law, and a lot, but their dreams of being grandmothers to the same children were now crushed.

Carlisle only cared that he'd probably have to carry his wife home.

Slowly, with a lot of time and effort, the relationship between Edward and his parents had improved. Both parties had been willing to make the change, and they apologized again and again to Tanya for making her be Switzerland. She was dangerously close to being able to tap into her trust fund, her grandparents having made the age where she'd come into it thirty, and the Cullen family and Bella were thinking of ways to get her to use it wisely.

She was an accountant, they really shouldn't have had to be involved in that kind of thing.

"Can I take him away from you?" Bella tapped Rose's shoulder, and both friends were startled by her. Had she heard them? How long had she been there? But Bella didn't seem aware, so they both relaxed, and Rose left to go find her bo- husband.

 _Husband_.

"How was dancing with your brother, love?" Edward asked, wiping under her eyes when he saw her crying had smudged her makeup a bit.

"Awful. He's big and has two left feet." Bella complained good-naturedly. "I saw good luck to Rose."

"Your sister-in-law, you mean," Edward teased, and Bella just smiled back.

He gave her a very skilled dip, then brought her up again.

"Hey Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever been jealous of Rose?" He asked, elaborating when Bella just shot him a quizzical look. "I mean, I remember how much you disliked Maria when you were dating Jasper, and she was _his_ best friend. I was wondering if it was ever the same with her."

Bella considered this question carefully.

"No, I haven't." Bella said honestly. "I disliked Maria because I wasn't delusional. She wanted Jasper and she was double faced about it. As for Rose... I always knew how in love with Emmett she really was. Her friendship with you is like mine with Jasper once was, I think. Minus the part where you two didn't date."

This prompted another question.

"Do you miss him?"

Even though time had gone by and Bella had settled her feelings about the time after her breakup with Jasper, she still hadn't been able to quite reestablish the friendship they'd once had. A few months ago they'd started trying meeting up once every two weeks, just to talk; though they always had fun, their time together wasn't as light-hearted as it had once been. It had gotten better with every occasion they met, obviously, but they were still a work in progress.

"As my best friend, sure. I think that what hurt me the most was that when I lost Jasper as a boyfriend, I also lost him as the friend closest to me." Bella admitted, having never been able to hide anything from Edgar. "But that's as far as it goes."

Edward hummed.

"I still get jealous every time you two meet up, you know," he informed her, which wasn't all that surprising. Edward's foul mood every time she called him after purposefully meeting Jazz had been really hard to hide, though she knew he'd tried. "Don't you think it's unfair? You see Rose and I interacting with a smile, but I bite a nail off every time you call to tell me you saw Jasper."

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Unlike you two, Jasper and I _did_ have sex," she reminded him, giggling from his deep scowl. "What? That's why I don't find it unfair."

"What about Emily? You never said a thing about her after we made up. Never even asked for how long we'd had the casual sex relationship."

Bella glared.

"Are you _trying_ to make me jealous, Edward Cullen?" She snapped, huffing when he gave her a twirl to avoid answering. "I don't care how long you two were together. I know you never felt anything for her, and you gave up on pursuing Rose to pursue _me_. So, _should_ I have a reason to be jealous of them?"

Sighing, Edward brought his girlfriend closer to give her a deep kiss.

He really could never win against her in an argument.

-.-.-

"Hey Edward, where are you taking me?" Bella asked for the billionth time, unhappy about the lack of answers she was getting.

"Secret."

"I swear, if you're taking me to the gym under the guise of something else, I'll break up with you right now."

He'd done it before.

Edward just chuckled nervously.

"No physical activity, love," he said, and this placated her enough to stop badgering him with questions the rest of the ride.

"Are we there yet?"

"Yes, actually, we are," Edward said thankfully, having had to hear that question time after time.

"Can I take the blindfold off then?"

"Absolutely not."

Alright then.

Bella heard Edward getting off of the car, then open the passenger door. Instead of helping her off, he suddenly swiped her into his arms, princess style.

She hated it.

"Put me down, Cullen!" Bella screeched, wanting to make use of her own two legs. Though she struggled, Edward was stronger and determined.

"No can do, love. I have to make sure."

 _Sure of what?_ Bella whimpered to herself, finally going limp in his arms.

She couldn't make out a lot of sounds, and what was most prominent was Edward's footsteps. She had an inkling of knowing where she was, but whenever the thought started taking shape, a sharp noise or movement would startle her and make her lose her train of thought.

Bella sighed.

"You hate being in my arms that much?" Edward teased, actually enjoying having his girlfriend depend on him in this way. He remembered when she'd made a huge commotion over him carrying her after getting injured at the gym before finally settling.

"Yes," she pouted, poking her bottom lip out. Unable to resist, he bent down to kiss it. "Hey! I'm sulking over here!"

He chuckled. He was always laughing when he was with Bella, and he hoped to spend the rest of his life doing it.

A few seconds later, Bella heard a lock being turned, then a door open and close. Wherever they were, it was a closed space.

"Is this a panic room? Edward, I thought I told you I didn't ever want to step foot in one." Bella said; she didn't even know what panic rooms were really about, but their names weren't friendly towards coward-like people like her.

Again, Edward chuckled.

"I wouldn't do that to you." He promised, then set her down on something soft. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips, lingering just enough to leave them both wanting for more. "Please give me one minute. Can you swear you won't try to peek?"

"What's in it for me?" Bella asked, sounding like more like a witness in the scene of a crime unwilling to spill and less like a loving girlfriend.

"Me," he said cryptically, and then left before Bella could think of something to retort with. She heard a door open and close, some shuffling, and then the door open and close again. She heard Edward's footsteps, then felt him sit down next to her. Suddenly a TV was on, and she could've sworn she heard Kim Kardashian saying something about Kanye.

Then the blindfold came off.

Blinking owlishly, she opened her eyes to survey the area around her. It was a living room, she was sure of that. There was a TV in front of her, a low table and the couch they were sitting on. There was a glass sliding door, and through it she could see what must've been a backyard.

She recognized the layout; this was her dream house.

Then she turned to see her boyfriend, who was now wearing scrubs and had his arm lying behind her, on the couch's backrest.

He was looking at her with so much love in his eyes that she couldn't bring herself to utter a single word.

"Say something?" Edward asked, and Bella shook her head.

"Three years ago today, I went to pick you up at your house so we could go on a date. Everything had been carefully planned, but you went and blew all of my romantic plans away. You did the same thing for the first time I told you I loved you and when I asked you to be my girlfriend. One of the many things that I learnt in our first dates was that there was an old house you _really_ liked near your parent's home, but that for some reason nobody was buying it. Then a few months ago you told me during dinner that the house was being renovated to attempt to be resold, and that you'd come to see it and loved it even more. So..."

Edward showed her some papers.

"I bought it."

Bella's mouth dropped open.

"I mean, what if we broke up and you'd bought it? That would've been terrible; I'd have been left with no girlfriend _and_ no super swanky house."

She hit his leg, but still said nothing.

Chuckling, he got serious again.

"I want us to live here, Isabella Marie Swan. I want us to raise our children, spoil our grandchildren and chase your brother out in this house. I want to come home after a shift and sit down to talk about our day, mindlessly watching reality shows. I want today to be the beginning of that. I want to marry you, Bells. I want to build a family with you, and I want us to love each other until the day we die. You're everything to me, and I hope you want to have everything with me."

By the end of his speech, Bella had a trail of tears running down her face and snot pouring out of her nose. Her makeup was beyond repair, and she was splotchy red. If she'd been able to see herself, she'd have told Edward to find a wife that cried in a prettier way than her and leave her to fuse with the ground. But because she didn't, and all she saw was love shining out of Edward's eyes, there was only one thing she could wail out.

"Let's elope!"

"Our mothers would kill us, love," Edward said, a smile inching up on his face as Bella muttered that he was probably right. "So, is that a yes?"

She cleaned her snot with the inside of her shirt, because that's what classy girls did.

"I was trying to find a way to make a joke and continue with my streak of foiling your romantic plans," Bella laughed shakily, honestly. "I guess I can't."

Crying harder as she saw Edward slip a beautiful ring on her left ring finger, her answer was obvious.

"Yes, I'll spend the rest of my life bugging you."

* * *

"So, when do you move into your dream house?" Angela asked, catching Bella on the phone just as she'd come home.

"After the honeymoon. Edward has already started moving the heavy stuff from his apartment into the house, although I left mom a list of things she should throw away while we're in our honeymoon. Edward refuses to throw out some nasty shit, and I know my mother has no qualms about throwing out his stuff."

"And you don't?"

"I would feel bad and not end up doing it. That's love for you," Bella shrugged, then heard a baby cry in the background. "Is that Bree's baby?"

In a move that shocked all of them, Bree had gotten knocked up a year ago during a one night stand, and she'd decided to keep it without a second thought, never even contacting the father. It was even more shocking given the fact that right around that time, Lauren and Tyler's condom broke, which meant that now Lauren and Bree were proud mothers of months old babies.

In other news from that group of friends of hers, Jess and Mike broke up a short while after Jake's ER stunt, and they'd stayed broken up for almost two years. That was the amount of time it had taken Mike to get his act together and crawl back to Jess who, despite everything, still loved him desperately. Han hit the jackpot and became some quarterback's girlfriend, and Ben and Angela were still going strong, even if they showed no sign of getting hitched any time soon.

"It is," Angela groaned, trying to hush it. "Nothing I do works to shut it up. I love Emma, but fucking shut up."

Bella rolled her eyes at Angela the Impatient.

"She's a baby. She's probably just hungry," Bella said, looking at her watch. "Oh, gotta go. I've got a student waiting."

Bella was currently working as a tutor in basic Japanese. She needed the money for her PhD, which she'd hopefully get started on in a few months.

"Seriously? You refused a bachelorette party to _work_?" Angela yelled, frustrated to no end with her friend.

Tomorrow was her wedding. No biggie.

"Yup," Bella said, popping the p. "Bye bye Auntie Angela. See you tomorrow"

She hung up.

/././.-.-./././

"You look so beautiful, honey," Renée Swan cried, seeing her daughter dressed in all white. The dress was beautiful; it had belonged to Esme, and had been altered for the wedding. Renée had used a rental for her own wedding, after all, having not been affluent enough to buy one. Bella's wedding dress constituted as 'something borrowed', and she was using electric blue heels, which constituted as 'something blue'. Bella had always been very wacky with her sense of style, and had never cared about what anyone else thought, so why start now? 'Something old' was her pearl necklace (and engagement ring, she supposed, since it had been in Edward's family for generations), which belonged to Grandma Higginbotham, and 'something new' was her new earrings, a present from Esme and Carlisle.

"Thank you, mama," Bella sniffled, doing her best not to cry. She felt beautiful, too, and didn't want to ruin it, even if it was with tears of happiness. In the mirror, she saw reflected her maid of honor and bridesmaid.

In order to avoid conflict, Bella had chosen to just have Angela as her maid of honor and Rosalie as her bridesmaid, while Edward had chosen Tanya as his best man and Emmett as his groomsman. It had been hard, choosing the roles, but ultimately it had worked out for the best. Edward didn't have many friends, and none he'd consider asking to be his best man over his own sister or Rosalie.

"You look much better than I did at your wedding," Bella noted, pointing at Rose's dress. It was a mocha-like color and, in her opinion, quite beautiful. Angela's was the same but in emerald green, and Tanya's was the same mocha color but with a blue sash. Emmett's tie matched Rose's dress perfectly.

 _I'm so good at this colors thing_ , thought Bella proudly.

"Well, I _did_ choose an ugly dress on purpose," Rose shrugged, not feeling guilty at all. She'd only done what was expected of her; ugly bridesmaid and maid of honor dresses were a given.

"My daughter-in-law is so bad," Renée sighed, winking at Rose. They both knew Renée thought it was neat.

"Hey! What about me? I look much better than you did at Rose's wedding, too," Angela complained, having seen the pictures of Bella's dress.

"Everyone looked better than me then, alright? Better?" Bella huffed, and the women laughed at her.

A knock came on the door.

Charlie Swan popped his head in.

"Ladies, it's time to head out," he said, telling them they'd head out in five minutes. "I need to have a word with my daughter."

He closed the door behind him, approaching Bella slowly.

"My baby girl," he said gruffly, mustache twitching. "You look _so_ beautiful, Rie. I…"

Bella's eyes watered, but again, she held herself back.

"Thank you, daddy."

He reached out and wiped away a tear threatening to fall.

"I have something to say before you head out there," he said, and Bella could've sworn she heard his voice quiver with emotion.

They sat on the chaise lounge.

"You and your brother are my greatest accomplishment," he began, warming his daughter's heart. "I saw you crawl for the first time, and I saw your first tooth fall out. I saw your first day in school and your first day in college. I've seen your first heartbreak, and I see you now get married. I hope this is one first that is durable, and unique. I hope you and Edward always love each other, through your best and worst, and make each other happy. I hope…" he cleared his throat, needing to finish saying this. "I hope you're three times as happy as I've been with your mother, and that you have children as kind and good as I've had. I love you to the moon and back, my lovely girl."

"Dad!" She wailed, throwing herself into her father's neck. "You ruined my makeup!"

Chuckling, he gave his daughter one last squeeze before pulling away and standing up.

"Come on," he said, dabbing away at the waterworks. The makeup artist had predicted she'd be a crier, so they'd used any and all products waterproof for the occasion. He offered her his arm. "You've got a wedding to go to."

/././.-.-./././ /././.-.-./././

She saw him waiting in the altar. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She could only hear the blood pulsing through her body with so much speed it was faster than lightning. She felt her father's warm arm accompanying her, felt the weight of the stares of the guests around her. Without looking, she knew that on one side of the Cullen there would be her family sitting —her mother, her grandparents, her cousins. Her high school friends —Jessica, Lauren, Siobhan, Bree (with her baby), all with their respective dates. Her college friends —Alice with Jasper, Edyth with Nadel (they'd finally gotten together, after many years of Edyth pining after him), Nyla with her girlfriend. Jacob with his girlfriend Vanessa, along with his parents. On Edward's side, she recognized few people. Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, for one. Edward had invited Riley and Kate, as well as some very pretty doctor (Irina was it?). Mostly, Edward had invited work colleagues and college friends he'd kept in touch with, as well as family.

Bella didn't know why she paid so much attention to the people in the sidelines, when all she cared about was the man waiting for her at the end of the road.

Edward Anthony Cullen.

Her almost husband.

His hair was sleeked back to the best of his ability, and he was wearing a tux that she really felt like ripping off. No beard, thank God. So she saw his smile grow until it almost split his face, and much to her relief, she saw a trail of tears on his cheeks that mirrored her own. 'Beautiful' he mouthed, and in typical Bella fashion, she just winked. Few people caught the interaction, and those who did, awed.

"Love her," was the only thing Charlie said as he handed his daughter to his son-in-law.

"Yes," Edward said, and that was that.

Whatever the priest said was lost on Bella and Edward, who were too consumed getting lost in each other's eyes. At this point in their relationship, they didn't know who was cheesier. They wanted to be lost to each other now, knowing they'd paid good money for someone to tape this so they could watch it later and know what the priest had said.

Then it was vow time.

"Isabella," Edward began, then shook his head and started over. "Bella. My promise to you is best surmised from a quote in the classic Great Expectations. It says: "Love her, love her, love her! If she favors you, love her! If she wounds you, love her! If she tears your heart to pieces —and as it gets older and stronger it will tear deeper— love her, love her, love her!" That's what I vow to do, Bella. I don't know what adversity we will face in the future, or how many gifts life will give us. All I can do is tell you that come Hell or high water, I'll love you. I'll laugh with you when you're happy, and I'll hold your hand when we face the worst obstacles. Together. Always."

 _And as you said, you held my hand as life left my body, telling me over and over again that we'd face the worst obstacle, death, together. You didn't let go, and when I felt my eyes let out tears for the last time, I felt my wrinkly hand become warm with yours._

"Edward," Bella started. "As I tend to do, I wanted to poke fun at you with my vows. Say something about your proneness to accidents or how when we met the second time you did a spit take because I said something shocking." Bella smiled as chuckles filled the church. "But then I figured I have the rest of my life to do that. I want to live my life poking fun at you, and then getting offended when you dare retaliate. I want to live my life being chased around by you so I'll finally hit the gym, even though we both know I'll eat five minutes later the equivalent of whatever I lost in the workout. I want to live my life annoying you, and cooking for you then making you wash the dishes, and loving you and making you happy. I… I just want us to grow to be old, annoying grandparents that make their grandchildren eww and aww whenever they see us be cute together. I, too, vow to love you forever."

 _You_ did _spend the rest of your life poking fun at me, eating burgers after going to the gym and annoying me in that meticulous way you have. And when we were old, crinkly and had to wear fake teeth and diapers, we still spoiled our grandchildren and annoyed them in that unique way old people have. We held hands and sat on the couch, glaring at our kids as they tried taking away the snacks we'd given the little ones (who were actually quite grown up). We, as they say, loved with a love that is more than love._

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," Bella and Edward heard, and didn't miss a beat before kissing each other in a way that was desperate and filled with love.

/././.-.-./././ /././.-.-./././

"So, how does it feel to be a taken woman?" Jasper asked, sipping from his wine happily. He has his arm around Alice, and the bride and groom were currently doing rounds saying hello to their guests.

"What do you mean, taken?" Edward huffed, kissing Bella's temple. "She's been taken for well over three years."

Jasper chuckled.

"You know, the day Izzy and I broke up," he began, ignoring Bella's glare. She still didn't like him calling her anything other than Bella. "I told her that I'd almost feel offended if you didn't put the moves on her. You took it too far, dude," Jasper chuckled, then yelped when Ali dug her elbow into his side.

"Well, one person's loss is another one's gain," Edward said smugly, getting elbowed by his wife.

"And you met your soul mate, or so you say, so everything's fine, isn't it?" Bella pointed out, having a thankful look thrown her way by Alice. She knew Jasper was totally over Bella, but it was still hard to see them being amicable like they'd been when they'd been dating. Especially when she thought she felt Jasper a little wistful over missing his chance with Bella. _She_ didn't seem too put out over ending up with Edward, after all.

"That I did," Jasper said, kissing Alice's cheek and in the process placating her. "Still. You ended up with an old fart, friend of mine."

Edward's mouth dropped indignantly. _Old fart?_ He was thirty-four! He still had a few months until he turned thirty-five, too!

"Oh, shut up, Whitlock. You're just jealous you won't age as well as Edgar," Bella sniped, and Jasper pretended to get shot in the heart.

"I remember when we still loved each other," Jasper whimpered. Bella shrugged.

"I remember when I _liked_ you," they went on bickering for a few minutes, and the whole time Alice and Edward gave each other sympathetic eyes.

"Children, children," Emmett showed up out of nowhere, tugging along his own wife. "It's not good to fight."

They all rolled their eyes at him.

"What's up, brother?" Bella asked, fiddling with her new wedding ring. It felt odd, having two rings on a finger she'd never worn anything on. It didn't bother her too much; she knew she'd have decades to get used to the feeling.

"Your first dance as husband and wife is about to start. I was told to recruit you."

"Mrs. Cullen?" Edward smiled widely, standing up and holding a hand out to his wife. "Would you dance with me?

"Mr. Cullen," Bella sighed, slipping her hand in his. "I would love to."

He led her to the dance floor, where after a couple of beats, the song _Love Me Tender_ by Elvis Presley started sounding out of the speakers.

 _Love me tender,_

 _Love me sweet,_

 _Never let me go._

 _You have made my life complete_

 _And I love you so._

"Hey, Edward?" Bella said softly, humming along to the song.

"Yes, love?"

"Nothing," she said, not knowing how to continue. There was too much she wanted to say, but didn't know how to.

They said nothing until the song had ended and a new one had started, and now Charlie cut in to dance with his daughter, while Esme cut in to dance with her son. They danced half the song together, telling each other soft words in each other's ears. Advice, jokes, I love you's. Then the dance partners switched, and Carlisle cut in to dance with Bella while Edward danced with Renée.

"Keep him in check," Carlisle whispered in Bella's ear when it was time to give her away to Tanya, being the best man.

"Lord Disick all the way," Renée declared war on Edward before letting Angela, the maid of honor, take over.

They danced for another half a song, and then the rest of the guests were allowed in the dance floor. Bella danced with her cousins, her friends, her uncles and aunts, until settling on her brother who looked about ready to burst into tears.

"But you were doing so well," Bella sighed, seeing his red eyes.

"I can't help it, alright? My baby sister is getting married," he sobbed, lifting her up in a crushing hug and twirling her around.

"Your baby sister is dying," Bella gasped out, thankful when he put her down.

"B, I have something to tell you." Emmett suddenly said, pulling back long enough so she could see his face.

"What's up?"

He got his mouth really close to her ear, and said:

"Rosie's pregnant."

Then he immediately covered her mouth with his hand, having foreseen her reaction.

Once the initial squealing was done, he let her say her piece.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm going to be an _aunt_?" Bella beamed, lowering her voice as much as she could.

Proudly, Emmett nodded.

"Oh, brother of mine, I'm so happy for you." She said, properly reaching up to hug him now. "Do mom and dad know?"

He shook his head.

"No, right now I'm telling you, and Rose is telling Edward. We thought it was important for you two to be the first to know."

And now she was crying. Again.

Together, the new Mrs. Cullen and the old Mr. Swan cried.

* * *

"Can you believe Em and Rose are having a _baby_?" Bella said in wonder for the billionth time.

They were currently in their hotel about to head to bed. After some grueling endless hours, they had finally arrived at (surprise!) Tokyo, Japan. In a surprising move, Esme and Carlisle had gifted them for their wedding a week in Japan, telling Bella that it would serve as a preliminary scout for her years-long planned visit. Besides, they told her; she should probably go _once_ with Edward, and which occasion was more special than for their honeymoon? And for the cherry blossom season, no less, given that they'd chosen an April wedding (April 8th, to be exact).

"I can, although I can't believe they did it," Edward said, laughing when Bella scrunched her nose up in disgust.

"I'm just saying—" Bella stopped. "What are you doing?"

Edward was currently resting his hands on her hips.

"Trying to get you to shut up about your brother and remember..." he paused, kissing her neck. "That this is our wedding night."

He pressed himself tightly against her, telling her what exactly he thought about her semi-nude state. She'd been talking and undressing, forgetting that she'd bought special white garters for the wedding.

Guiltily, she ruined the romance for her _husband_ for the very first time of many.

"I'm on my period."

* * *

 **My God just one chapter left. Also, I used like three sentences from one of my other stories, so technically, I'm only stealing from myself. If you see any mistakes it's because I edited with burning eyes and I might not have caught it when I checked again; I did like three checks, and during the final one I saw how inefficient I'd been with the other ones. At one point, I had Edward calling himself Mr. Swan. Not the idea, fellas. I know many of you were looking forward to a sex scene, and while I enjoy reading them, making them is kinda hard. Very, actually, and I feel sort of lewd when I do write them so I never post them. On the other hand, I might try it out.**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. I've been telling y'all I might make an outtake, which would be posted sometime within a month, so if you have any ideas about what it could be about, don't hesitate to tell me. I'm open to suggestions; it could be that you want a specific scene, or even a specific conversation, or to know what Bella or Edward think about something.**

 **P. P. S. Did any of you see Riverdale yesterday? It was actually rather good, although to be honest I was only there for Cole Sprouse and he didn't have nearly enough screen time. #ShamelessAdvertisement**

 **P. P. P. S. Again, thank you all so much for your support. Every view, favorite, review, and follow means the world to me, and you should see me when I read your reviews. Even the ones that just leave a smiley face make me smile on reflex. Thank you, thank you.**


	15. Lots of Years Later

**Well, this is the end, friends. Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. One moment I was starting it, and then I was suddenly done.**

 **DISCLAIMER: *cries***

* * *

 **Epilogue**

"Cassie!"

"Cassandra!"

"CASSANDRA LEONI CULLEN! GET YOUR ASS DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

Sighing, CC put down her game. Alright already, no need to—

" _NOW!_ "

CC almost killed herself running.

"I'm here, I'm here," CC heaved out, seeing that her mother awaited her with hands on her hips and waving a spatula angrily.

"How old are you, Cassandra?" She asked, eyes squinted.

"Fifteen."

"And how long have you been doing the dishes?"

"More time than I can say, sir," CC saluted, and got water thrown at her face.

"Then why the hell did you leave the dishes in the sink, huh? I ought to whip your ass into next week young lady, just wait until your father—"

The door opened, and a tired doctor walked in.

"Daddy!" CC ran over to her father, throwing her arms around him. "Mom's being mean to me!"

Bella squinted her eyes. The nerve of her.

"Is she, sweetheart?" Edward bent down to give his daughter a bone crushing hug. With her still in his arms, he turned to his wife with disapproving eyes. "Honey, what did we say about being mean to the children?"

"Only when enough time has gone by that they can't come running to you because they've forgotten," Bella parroted, walking up to her husband. Child in between them, she gave him a welcome home kiss.

"Ew! Don't do that while I'm in the middle!" CC complained, scrambling to get down.

Laughing, he ran a hand through his daughter's messy red curls. Their wavy form was a mystery, because neither he nor Bella were curly haired. Her green eyes, though, were totally his, as well as the hair coloring (obviously).

"How was your day, darling?" Bella asked, batting her eyelashes at her husband.

"Good. The last patient cancelled, so we closed shop early," he explained. Turning left and right, he frowned. "Where's the other one?"

"He's locked up in his room," CC said in a bored tone. "Still moping about Melody rejecting him, I bet."

Bella pouted, looking at her husband for damage control.

"Care to go give a pep talk to a seventeen-year-old?"

Sighing, he nodded, loosening his tie.

"I expect food after that, wife," he said in a low tone, winking to let her know he was joking. About the sexist tone, not about wanting food. He was starving. Just like her daughter, Bella saluted, and the women in the house saw the remaining good man go try to rescue The Depressive One.

That's what CC had been calling Jace.

"Hey Jace," Edward stuck his head in after knocking and getting no answer. "Can I come in?"

A grunt answered him.

He took that as a yes.

Going into the dark room, he saw what was normally a cheerful space looking totally morose. Jace had maps tacked around all of the walls, as well as model boats and history books piled up. If Bella had been an Asia nerd, their son was an Africa nerd. Because they'd given him the name Jason, he'd steered clear of anything that had to do with Ancient Greece, although Edward had caught him looking once or twice at a Peloponnesian War web page.

"Son?" Edward asked hesitantly, not knowing how to get around the papers littered on the floor without stepping on a few. "When's the last time you surfaced from your room?"

"Wednesday," he thought he heard him mumble.

 _Ida let him stay in since Wednesday? Where was I?_

"Alright, get up, Jace. Or I'll bring Grandma Rennie to drag you out."

Instantly, he saw his son's handsome face surface from beneath the covers.

Even though Renée loved her grandchildren fiercely, she was still one scary grandmother.

"I'm up," Jace said groggily, rubbing at his eyes.

Edward frowned.

"Son, your mother's worried. And you _know_ I hate worrying your mother," Edward said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He saw his son fish around for his square glasses, desperately needing them to see.

"You just hate she gives you cold leftovers when she's worried," Jace grumbled, not saying that he hated it, too. The leftovers were always good, of course, as was everything his mom did, but leftovers meant no dessert and everyone in the house was addicted to Bella's pastries.

"I do," Edward admitted shamelessly, scratching at his stubble. Even after eighteen years of marriage, Bella still refused to let him grow it, early on in the relationship telling him she'd take to shaving him in his sleep if he didn't do it himself. _I have to shave it tomorrow_ , Edward thought. "But I also know you need someone to talk to."

"I talk to Oz," Jace defended himself, talking about his best friend, Oscar.

"Do you really? Because if my memory serves me right, he's _still_ going after the Colby girl," Edward raised an eyebrow. "I really doubt you'd talk to him about it."

Damn, his father knew him too well.

"I can talk to Gray," Jace countered, pressing his lips in a thin line when his father rolled his eyes.

"Please, Grayson has the sensitivity of his father. You couldn't count on him to listen to you for five minutes unless you had his mother do it," Edward said, sending another prayer for his best friend. Rose had three children, and the last two were twins. Lacy and Amelia were adorable when they were babies, but at fourteen years old, their level of energy far surpassed him, and he dealt with children every day.

"Um... CC?"

They shared a look.

Both knew CC was never Melody King's biggest fan, and had been rooting for the downfall of her brother's love since day one.

And yeah, Melody the Heartbreaker was also Victoria's daughter. She was what Bella liked calling 'a poked condom', rather than an accident. Vicky had been sick of James not finishing committing to her, and in a fit of anger, had poked all the condoms. The good news was James asked her to marry her before he found out about the pregnancy and put her mind at ease. The bad news was she'd forgotten about the condoms until _after_ the makeup sex.

"Fine," Jace gave up trying to think of allies. Clearly, he was alone on this and his father was his best shot. His mom was a willing listener, but she was terrible when it came to just shutting up and listening without making an input of jokes and/or purposefully uncomfortable comments. It was a pity, too, because she was someone Jace considered incredibly intelligent. Not that his father wasn't, but he wasn't as thirsty for knowledge as his mother, the college professor, was. Admittedly, though, his dad always gave great advice. He'd heard his mother complain about it enough, too.

"Alright, hit me," Edward said, turning his body more so he was completely facing his son.

"Mel, she just..." Jace choked up and started crying. He couldn't continue, and burrowing back under his covers, he kept crying even after his dad got out.

 _I swear I don't know who he takes after in being so emotional,_ Edward thought as he went down the stairs, bewildered. _Even Bella... no, wait, I remember. Yeah, she's the emotional one out of the two of us._

"So? How'd it go?" Bella asked, wiping her hands as she put a plate in the microwave. Leftovers it was.

"I almost managed it, but then he started crying," he sighed, sitting down on his usual place.

"He's such a crybaby," CC snarked, and Edward fought the urge to stuff her mouth with tissue paper. He loved CC like crazy (she was his baby girl, after all), but adolescence had made her less than pleasant most of the time. He and Bella did their best, but neither had been difficult teenagers, and Jace hadn't been, either. They simply didn't know how to beat the brat out of her, and mostly just waited around for the days Renée visited and put her in her place (then chewed _them_ out for not being able to handle a teenager). Their other ally was Tanya, who _had_ been a difficult teen and knew the best ways to shut up CC.

Bella sighed.

"Honey, he's heartbroken. He'll get over it. You know we all have to show him support," Bella reminded her teenager. "Heartbreak's never easy."

Edward nodded, remembering how Bella had handled hers and he'd handled his.

"It's just..." CC sighed. "Melody's such a _bitch_ , you know? I can't believe he likes her," she grumbled, already getting out her five bucks and taking them over to the swear jar. Neither Bella nor Edward had ever been big on swearing, and early on in their parenting days they'd known they didn't want vulgar children. They'd implemented this system so it'd hurt their children in their pockets when they said a bad thing, which they figured was more effective than just shouting at them about what a mean word it was. The bigger the bad word, the bigger the price, too.

"She is," Bella agreed when her daughter came back to the table. "But don't tell Vicky I said that."

They still had lunch every Wednesday. The difference now was she'd divided her group and saw different friends different days. Vicky and Alice she saw on Wednesdays during lunch, Angela on Fridays (she deserved her own day), and Jess and Lauren on Mondays. With Ange they normally went to get their nails done together or to eat, and Jessica and Lauren she saw when going to pick up CC from her karate club. CC had a lot of pent up energy, as did Jessica and Lauren's younger children. They all took lessons in the same place in different age groups, and it worked out so for a bit over an hour the three women had time to catch up. Edyth had moved to Japan, and Nyla to Korea, so her college friends were a rare treat apart from Alice.

Moving on.

"It's just... she's so stuck up!" CC continued her rant, and said a few more choice words about the junior girl before being stopped by her father.

"Honey," Edward said gently. "Be careful about how you talk of people. It's ok to express your opinion, and you know your mom and I will always listen to anything you have to say, but when you're with others, remember—"

"Is it good, is it true, is it necessary," CC repeated, sighing. "Yeah dad, I know."

Bella frowned.

"No, Cassandra, I don't think you _really_ know. You've gotten into three verbal fights this semester already, and it's because you said something mean to a girl or got caught dissing her. Those three rules don't just apply for when you're with others, they apply to what you _think_. I don't like it, that my wonderful daughter is thinking so many mean things about a girl who is clearly not worth it." Bella put her fork down, facing her daughter square on. Jace rarely got this kind of speech, so he didn't know just how good they were. "Would _you_ like being talked about the way you talk of Melody?" Bella questioned.

CC avoided her mother's eyes, her own burning with unshed tears.

"She deserves it," CC retorted, putting her own fork down.

Furious, Bella dug her fingers into her thigh to keep herself from yelling.

" _Deserves_ it? Young lady, who are _you_ to judge that?" Bella snapped. "Things go wrong when people play judge, jury and executioner. I never, _ever_ want to hear you say something like that. To say one person is good, or bad, or deserving or undeserving of something, that's God's territory. Not yours. I never _once_ heard your grandmother say someone deserved a sentence even if they'd done something bad, and it would've been easy for her to slip into that." Bella fumed, looking at her daughter. "Go to your room, CC. You can take your food with you, but bring down and wash your dish if you do."

Cassandra high tailed out of there with her meal, not wanting to be seen crying.

Daughter gone, Bella let out a sigh. Suddenly, she wasn't a forty-one year old mother but a clueless nineteen year old. At least, that's how Edward felt. It didn't help his wife hadn't aged a day since he'd met her, the only mark of passage of time being the white hair she dyed.

"I don't know what we're gonna do about her, Edgar," Bella admitted, reverting to her age old nickname for him. Another proof of her going back in time inside.

"Give her time, love," Edward said. Bella bit her lip, pushing her food away. She wan't hungry anymore.

"But what if we start pushing our frustration over her out on Jace? Or on both? I don't want to repeat your parents' mistake, Edward. I couldn't bear it if we led either of our children to self destruct. Our eldest is literally locked in his room until further notice, and our youngest doesn't get the concept of compassion or the power of words. I'm just lost." Bella said, feeling like crying.

Finishing inhaling his last bite of food (after all this years, Bella still didn't grasp how he and Rose did that), he stood from his chair and went over to Bella's, leaning down so he rested his chin on her head and had his arms around hers, standing behind her.

"We won't. My parents would let Tanya get away with almost anything she said, and though I know it's hard for us, we don't let CC get away with everything. As for Jace... he's a good kid. Better than I was, and much more clear headed. He's also much better with CC than I was with Tan. We're different parents, and they're different children, love. They're still growing." Edward comforted, swaying with Bella in his arms. "You might have been too harsh on her for making mindless comments."

Bella scowled.

"If somebody had taught May Oyakawa not to make mindless comments, then I wouldn't have had to hear her insult me behind my back but laugh beside me. Actions might speak louder than words, but words are valuable and charged with importance."

As previously stated, winning an argument against his wife was pretty tough. She could've been a lawyer like her mother, and an even better one, but again, her interests lied elsewhere in a pretty clear way.

"True," Edward acknowledged. "But we also have to be careful to not make CC feel like she can't talk to us, you know?"

That was also correct.

"I just wish she wouldn't _think_ it," Bella sighed, not knowing how to change the way one person thought. "It's like she's so focused fighting the mean girl she'll become one. She's so young and yet so ardent in her hatred for some people."

Edward sighed along with his wife.

"Well, she thought it. She'll keep thinking like she thinks until she understands _why_ it's such a tiring thing to do. And we'll be there, ready to tell her about our mistakes. Hey, I got a great idea." Edward suddenly said, tapping her arm twice. "How about talking to her of your relationship with Alice? The ups and downs and how you solved them. Maybe even of Maria, too. You haven't told the kids the story of how we got together, you know?"

That was actually a rather good point.

"Sometimes I remember why I married you," Bella teased, leaning her neck up to peck his chin. "That stubble needs a shave."

Busted.

"Can you handle the dishes, honey? I should go do that now and strike while the iron is hot," Bella said, and as usual, managed to delegate the dishwashing to her husband. She had taken her vows seriously.

Sighing, Edward complied.

 _Knock knock._

"Jace, I'm coming in," Bella said softly, going into Jace's room. Just like Edward, she noticed the amount of papers lying around, only she'd pressure the boy to clean up after the conversation.

"What's up, Ma?" Jace asked, the not-so-secret-mama's-boy.

"I need you to come with me to talk with CC. I want to tell you both something you've been asking for a few years to know now."

...

After a few minutes of persuading her daughter to open the door, CC finally let in her mother and brother into the room. She didn't even ask where her dad was; she knew he was doing the dishes. Her mom was sneaky; she never said it was a rule that because she cooked the rest washed, wanting to appear like she did do it every once in a while, but CC had no memory of her mother ever washing the dishes.

It took Bella a while, but she managed to get out the story of how she and Edward met, the months leading to her breakup with Jasper and the time after that, when Edward pushed her to give him a chance. She spoke of May, even though Bella had never wanted to speak of the woman to her children, and she spoke of Maria, whom she knew nothing of anymore. She talked of Alice and the harsh words she told her, and she talked of how Edward asked her out (when they asked).

Edward had come in mid-speech, peeking in to see that his wife was sitting against the bed rest with one arm around CC and fingers dug into Jace's hair, who had his head on her lap and was looking up at her. He snuck a picture and walked out, needing to watch the latest episode of the newest hit show, _Keeping Up With Honey Boo Boo' Boos_. It wasn't as good as the spinoff from the Kardashian children (grandchildren?) but it was his duty to watch as many reality shows as he could.

"Wait, so you and Jasper dated?" Jace asked with a scrunched up nose. "You know Seth has a crush on you, right?"

Ah, Seth, the bane of Edward's existence. He was sixteen and glaringly obvious about how much he liked Bella; even with how oblivious she was, there was no mistaking it. Jasper's son was always glaring at Edward and offering to do everything Bella's own children never did. She figured it was a fair trade (ogling for menial tasks), but Edward always got very defensive whenever Seth came over. He wasn't even there when Jace brought over his high school friends, who were _very_ appreciative of the body she acquired after breastfeeding and being put through the grinder by Edward after she gained _way_ over what was normal with her pregnancies. Jace had told CC that's why he didn't bring his friends over anymore, not even Oz with his huge crush on Colby. Oz was in love, not blind, though Jace wished he was.

"I do," Bella sighed, thinking of how much Seth reminded her of Jasper's younger days. "Alice and I have an understanding never to talk about it."

"He wants to be my _dad_ ," Jace said, disgust clear in his voice.

"About that," CC suddenly said, turning to look up at her mother. "Didn't you just say you were incredibly mean to Alice?"

Bella nodded.

"And I still regret that. Even if I was angry and hurt, I had no right to criticize her the way I did. Not only was I mean, she'd been my friend, and I was quick to pass judgement on the situation. CC, I don't expect you to suddenly get what it is I'm talking to you about, but you're old enough to understand words carry a weight _you're_ responsible of. It's normal to talk about people, and every once in a while you're not gonna say something nice about them. That's ok, when you're at home or alone with a friend. But do you think you'd like it if every afternoon when I come to pick you up all I did was rant about how much I _hate_ Professor Masen?" Bella asked, talking about the colleague she didn't appreciate. He'd tried picking her up, and when he got turned down, he became an ass.

"The dude that tried asking you out?" Jace asked with a smirk; that asshole had been stone cold when he'd seen his father approaching (Bella's car had broken down and he'd come pick her up in the bike), looking jealous and much cuter (or so his dad had said).

"Yeah, him," Bella said, still looking at her daughter. "CC? I don't want you to keep harvesting so much anger inside of you. You're so young, so caring and so full of _potential_ to be wasting time on people who aren't worth it. You've got your art, don't you?" Bella asked, motioning at the canvas and pencils and oil paintings littered around the room, a testament of her love for art. "Don't you think your art's changed since you started paying so much attention to Melody King and her lackeys?"

CC remained quiet, but Bella could see her daughter was starting to see her point.

So she turned to the other problem child.

"And you, Jason," Bella said, squinting her eyes. "CC might not be so gentle about it, but I agree that Melody's not a nice girl. I love Victoria, she's one of my best friends, but her daughter has never treated you well. If there's one thing a mother can't stand, it's her children being mistreated. You're sad about Melody not liking you, and I wish she did just so you wouldn't feel this way. But you're way too valuable to be moping about a girl like her. I don't know why you like her, but if it's about her being the prettiest girl in class—"

Jace shook his head.

"That's not it, ma, although it certainly doesn't hurt. She just... shines for me, you know?"

Her son, the eternal romantic.

Bella muffled her daughter's mouth before she could think of something to snap at her brother.

"I know, son. Sometimes we don't understand _why_ we like someone, but... You need to be with someone who treats you well and doesn't make you feel like you're less, like I've seen her do to you. Have you ever seen _me_ mistreat your father because I'm prettier than him?"

The jokes were back, Jace thought to himself. Well, she'd lasted a lot without making one, so props for that.

"Yeah! You _always_ tell dad to try on your facial cream first in case it's not as good as it says it is, so _he'll_ get an allergic reaction instead of you!" CC accused, and this was when Bella realized she had to start being more subtle about using her husband as a guinea pig. At least they didn't know of how she made him break into her heels. Then she'd have to explain what she did to thank him, and that would be awkward.

"His beard protects half of his face," Bella defended herself, ignoring the fact that his beards lasted for a day, because then she'd make him shave it off. "As I was saying, before someone threw me under the bus. Jace, I know we hit a rough patch two years ago, but that's over now. You're not the same boy, and I _need_ to know _you_ know that."

Jace had been severely bullied when he got into high school, due to his nerd tendencies and disproportionate body. He had his father's height, but he'd had to grow into the body that everyone thought would be more like Bella's for a while. The process was not only painful, it was awkward. He'd been like the geek from the movies, with a gangly body, braces, taped glasses (he refused to give them up) and penchant for having all the answers the other kids didn't. It didn't make him popular, despite how glaringly nice and funny he was. When freshman year ended, Bella sent him to intense training at a nearby gym, threw his glasses out and bought new ones, and made the orthodontist's appointment he'd so badly needed to get the damn braces removed. When the new school year came, Jace Cullen strolled into the school, unrecognizable except for his sharp wit (genetic gift from him mom) and green eyes (genetic gift from his dad), as well as the nerd in him. That, no one had any intention of changing.

Still, old habits died hard, and Bella knew her son was as obsessed with Melody as Edward had been with Rose, minus the whole 'Edward and Rose were actually friends' thing. She'd conveniently left out the part where their father had been in love with their aunt, not wanting to create confusion in the family. That would be something they'd find out when the siblings were old and crinkly, going through their parent's belongings and found a photo album that depicted a lovestruck Edward smiling at the teenaged Rosalie. They'd think of how much their own children resembled their father, and then they'd see the odd look in their father's young face, looking at his best friend almost like he'd gazed at their mother. They'd take the album up to their dying father, who could hold onto life no longer without his wife by his side. He'd see the picture, and tears would slip down his face as he remembered those days. _"I didn't know what forever meant, back then. I didn't know for thirty years."_

"I do, mom," Jace sighed, not wanting to talk in front of Cassandra about his confidence issues.

"Good. Now give me a kiss and go clean your room. _Both_ of you, you disgusting creatures," Bella said, smiling happily when both of them kissed her on her cheeks, though she'd have appreciated it if CC hadn't stuck her tongue out, too.

"I felt your love, baby," Bella teased, hopping off of CC's bed. Assessing the messy room, Bella glared. "No new art materials for you until you clean this pigsty up." She waved her finger at CC, then turned to her son who was making a smug face at his sister. "And you better believe you'll just get lunch money on Monday if you don't clean up. And _no_ , Jason, you already missed two days of classes. You've had enough time to deal with your heartbreak."

Jace insisted on Bella making him lunch, preferring that to cafeteria food. He always felt it was punishment when Bella told him she'd just give him money.

"But _mom_!" Both children whined, but she put her foot down.

"Also, I want you both ready to go tomorrow at twelve on the dot. We've got Aunt Rose's birthday party, alright?"

Both teenagers groaned.

"I'm gonna tell her that her beloved nephew and niece didn't want to go," Bella huffed, laughing as she left CC's room and went to her own.

"How'd it go?" Edward asked, turning off the TV as his wife came into the room.

"Good, I think. They were really interested in me having dated Jasper. Something about Seth liking me seemed even grosser to them," Bella laughed, taking off her earrings. Edward scowled, being reminded of the adolescent that liked his wife.

"You should gain a few pounds," Edward suggested, glaring at her flat stomach. Bella rolled her eyes; as the years went by, she got more used to women salivating after her husband, and Edward seemed to get more annoyed by whatever attention she got.

"What, you think I'll go cougar? After having a sugar daddy?" Bella teased, now taking off her watch and necklace as she took off her shoes.

"Well, you can still have any man you want," Edward pointed out, watching as his wife shimmied off her jeans and took off her shirt, leaving her in her underwear. He shifted. "You could sleep like that."

She threw him a sultry look, glad her husband still had the sex drive of the horny thirty something year old she'd once had sex with all those years ago.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She teased, unclasping her bra. "Except I'm sure our children wouldn't, if they come in and witness my new pajamas."

Edward pouted, hopping off the bed crawling on his knees to where his wife was in just her underwear.

"Please, wife. We haven't had sex in—"

"Two days," Bella raised an eyebrow. "We go longer than that when I'm on my period."

He kissed her belly button, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Please?"

He kissed lower, and pretending to indulge her husband, Bella sighed loudly.

"Go lock the door."

* * *

"I'm _so_ glad you could make it this time," Rose hugged Bella, still not over the family bailing last year in favor of going on a mini vacation. In Bella's defense, her children had whined enough that she'd been forced to whine to Edward to take them somewhere... and she stayed home reading manga.

Parenting was tough.

"Well, we did our best, Rose," Bella said, hugging back the now fifty-five year old. The years had convinced Rose that aging wasn't all that terrible, and that menopause had its perks, like not bleeding once a month.

"Aunt Bella!" She felt two bodies collide into the hug, and pulling away, Bella smiled at her cute nieces. Lacy and Amelia exasperated Edward a lot, but she thought they were still adorable.

"Lacy, Mia, how's it cracking?" Bella hugged them tightly, weeping silently when she saw that her two fourteen year old nieces were already as tall as she was (admittedly, she was barely 5 ft 4, but still). They had their tall parents to thank for that.

"Aunt Bella, you wouldn't believe what Gray said to us today!" Lacy began, and a very confusing story was told by the twins until their older brother arrived, having heard his aunt come in.

"Aunt Bella!" He smiled, enveloping her in his arms. He was a high school senior, and would turn eighteen in December. He was born the same year Bella and Edward got married, and because said couple was brilliant, Bella got knocked up five months into her marriage and had Jace in the first week of September. Meaning she only got to finish her first year of the PhD before having to put it on hold for a little while. She got another year (out of three) done, and then CC was born. Life didn't always turn out as planned, although Bella suspected her husband had something to do with the unexpected pregnancies. Her periods hadn't been as precise as the pill usually made them during the months leading up to her pregnancies, and Bella had a feeling he'd been giving her some placebo, desperate as he was to have kids before turning forty. She would've pursued the issue if she thought it'd have made a difference, but as it was, life felt pretty perfect.

"Gray!" Bella laughed, holding her nephew close. He had Emmett's dimples and Rose's blonde hair, which meant he was his private high school's heartbreaker. Jace said he was always getting asked by girl friends to be set up with his cousin. "How's football?"

Of course he played.

"Great! You and Uncle Edward should come see me play. I know CC doesn't like it, though, and Jace might not be all that into manly games," Gray joked, instantly getting taken away by his cousin so he'd be shown just how _manly_ Jace could be. Bella could be honest with herself; her son was destined towards many great things, but sports wasn't one of them.

"I could come," CC pouted to herself, thinking of Gray's handsome friends.

"Sister!"

"Brother!"

Bella and Emmett clashed into each other, tearfully hugging each other.

"It's been too long, sister!" Emmett cried, and CC left after waving at her uncle, going to find Lacy and Mia again to have someone to talk to.

"How could you leave me with such an ogre, brother?" Bella cried back, laughing as Edward ripped her off of her brother and held her around her waist.

"I'll show you what an ogre I can be," Edward growled playfully, heaving Bella up into a sack of potatoes. Then he turned so she could keep speaking to her brother from his shoulder.

"You two will probably try poking each other's eyes in an asylum," Rose rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

Indignantly, Emmett turned to his wife.

"Our children will love us enough to not put us in one," Emmett said, motioning between his sister and him. "Tell em Rie."

Bella nodded.

"Good luck finding a hot nurse to take care of you two," Bella said, then tapped her husband's butt. "Babe, put me down. Your shoulder's digging into my stomach."

Dutifully he put her down, even rubbing the alleged abused place.

"I don't need to find one. I have one right here," Edward teased, putting his arm over Bella's shoulder. "That's why I picked a younger wife, don't you remember?" Laughing, they finally decided to vacate the front lawn and make their way to the backyard, where the BBQ was taking place.

"I love you," Bella suddenly turned up to tell her husband. Smiling, he leaned down and whispered he loved her, too. Then he slapped her ass and cackled all the way to their table, pleased with himself over ending romantic moments every once in a while.

"Our parents are disgusting," Gray declared, watching the two sets of couples interacting with each other, now done roughing it up with his cousin.

"They are," Jace flinched, touching his now sore side. Gray didn't know how to take it easy.

"But it's cute, isn't it? It means after all these years they still love each other," Lacy chirped up, and was backed up by her twin, as always.

"It's not cute when you walk in on them," CC muttered, and her brother threw her an empathetic look. A few months ago CC had walked in on their parents having sex, and though she saw nothing important, it still scarred her. She never let them forget about her trauma, either.

"I've walked in on them _three_ times," Gray declared. "Lacy and Mia aren't allowed to to go into their room without me coming in first."

Everyone shot Gray a sympathetic look.

They were recounting tragic stories of witnessing their parents loving each other when Bella suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Kids," she greeted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Mother," Jace and CC echoed.

"Aunt," the three Swans chirped up.

"I happen to have heard from a _two_ sets of grandparents that their grandchildren haven't gone to greet them. Now, I wonder who they were talking about?" Bella asked, and saw her children rush off to go greet Grandma Rennie and Grandpa Charlie, as well as Nana Esme and Pops.

"You have terrible children, Aunt Bells," Gray pointed out. "They don't appreciate their elders."

Bella glared at her nephew.

"I see Em taught you how to be a wise ass," Bella said, claiming the spot Jace had vacated. She put her arms around Gray and Lacy, the ones beside her. "And for your information, my children are perfect."

He didn't have to know the family issues.

"Oh, hey, Aunt B," Gray suddenly remembered, flickering his eyes towards his little sisters. "Can I talk to you for a sec? In private?"

Raising an eyebrow, Bella followed her nephew away from prying eyes, near the pool. Just like her parents, Rose had insisted on buying a house with enough space for the annual BBQ and a pool.

"What's up, godson?"

Yeah, he was. Emmett was also Jace's godfather.

"Um, would you happen to know... When Emma gets back?"

Ah, Emma Tanner, Bree's daughter as well as Grayson's crush since he'd met the girl. This was roughly when he was five years old and Bree had brought over her six-year-old. Bella knew that Gray kept dating girls, hoping to one day forget about the college girl, but so far, no such luck.

"Sunshine," Bella sighed, having gone over this many times with her nephew. "I've told you. Emma has a boyfriend she hasn't broken up with in three years."

But Gray was way too positive for his own good.

"They could still break up." He pointed out. "Come on Aunty, just give me a day. Emma blocked me everywhere because I kept spamming her to ask."

 _And that doesn't clue you in?_

Still, she admired his insistence.

She sighed.

"Bree said something about bringing Emma over on Halloween. But you didn't hear it from me."

He hugged her.

"Thanks Aunt Bella, you're the best," he said, going to find one of his little sisters to tease.

Going back to the adults, Bella found the whole family gathered, minus Tanya. Tan had suddenly hit it big with a job she managed to keep many years ago, and had spent a long time making her own business empire. Some well placed ideas and understanding of numbers meant that now Tanya worked 24/7; because she'd suddenly consumed herself in work, the man she'd married, she'd also divorced within two years. She had a son she'd adopted when she divorced her husband, having been too old to conceive when she'd finally decided she did actually want to be a mother. He was a beautiful child from Romania, with elfish features and a deaf ear. Because of it he had trouble learning to speak, and when Tanya adopted him at seven, she'd simply taken him to her brother and told him to do whatever he needed so her son could find a solution to his problem. When they'd learnt of the remedy, Tanya had stuck her son in whatever speech therapies he needed along with all the hearing procedures necessary and voilà, she had a hard of hearing boy she loved to the moon and back. Saturdays, though, were a therapy session day, and Tanya refused to let Frederick miss even one.

So Bella found in one table her parents and Edward's parents crowding one side, along with Rose's mom. Sadly, Mr. Hale had passed a way three years ago from lung cancer. Rose had taken it really rough, to the point where she was on the verge of splitting from Emmett from how messed up she felt inside. Bella, though, had recognized the eyes Rose was sporting, because she'd seen those very eyes the day Jasper Whitlock broke up with her. She'd begged Rose not to be hasty, and to first talk things out with her brother. He loved her too much, and Bella didn't know what would become of him if Rose left him. Eventually, they recovered, with Rose going to her own therapy in order to process her father's death. The worst part of the ordeal (apart of Mr. Hale's death, of course) was that Gray had found out about his mother's consideration of splitting from her father, which had led to a strained relationship for a while. Bella, though, thought things were starting to look better.

"Mom, where's my children?" Bella frowned, seeing them nowhere.

Renée waved her away.

"Oh, they left as soon as they came. Their grandmothers aren't nearly as cool as all the games they have," she said, and like always, Bella wandered at how lenient her mother could be in some things and how strict in others.

"I can't believe that's true," Emmett said, his arm around Rose as he caressed her hand. "I mean, their games aren't that cool."

Everyone yelled at Em, who just laughed and shrugged it off.

So the afternoon went.

* * *

"Oh my God," Bella blinked, feeling light headed. "This isn't happening."

It was _way_ too soon. She and Edward had only been married for _five_ months, damn it! So why was the pregnancy test showing her a positive result? This one, and the other ten she bought? She'd missed her period, and after not getting it for another month, Bella finally manned up enough to go buy the pregnancy tests. She didn't take them home, though; she hid in the university's bathroom and did all the tests, not coming out until she'd peed on every single stick.

Every single stick showed two lines, which meant she really _was_ pregnant.

Her phone rang, making her jump in shock. Calming herself, she realized that it was Edward's ringtone, and that he must've been wondering why she wasn't at the front when she said she would. He was coming to pick her up, seeing as they were both heading the same way.

"Hello?"

"Hi, love. I'm out front, but I can't see you,"

 _Ok Bella, time to get your game face on_.

"Alright. I got held back, sorry. I'll be out there in a moment."

Bella hung up, only pausing long enough to throw out the pregnancy sticks. She wasn't the type who thought of keeping a stick she'd peed on.

"Hi, sorry about that," was the first thing Bella said, leaning across the console to give Edward a kiss.

"It's fine. How was your day?" He asked cheerfully; as a matter of fact, if Bella thought about it, he'd been strangely cheerful for about the last month or so.

"Good. One of the professors told us about Jason and the Argonauts, and it'd been so long I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Greek mythology." For a while after that, Bella and Edward made mindless small talk, and Bella put the pregnancy out of her head.

"Hey, you seemed sort of odd when I called you. Everything alright?" Edward asked, perceptive in a way most doctors had to learn to be. This annoyed and made Bella grateful.

"Yeah, I think so," Bella said, and changed the subject. This made Edward suspicious; Bella _never_ avoided subjects unless they made her uncomfortable, and few things ever did. She spoke of her period like she was talking about the weather, and she talked about having had sex with Jasper like she was saying they'd met in the street. Uncomfortable subjects were rare and usually took some digging into.

"You sure you're alright?" Edward asked again later, even as Bella sunk down on him, riding him up and down. He thought it was worth a shot asking during the middle of sex, when she was most off guard. But she wasn't listening.

"Yeah, fine," Bella heaved out, and said nothing else until they both reached their own climax.

"Positive?"

Edward could be _so_ annoying sometimes.

Instead of answering, Bella shut off the bed light and called it a night.

-.-

"I'm freaking out," Bella confessed. She was having lunch with Bree, and though they weren't as close as each girl was to Angela, for instance, Bella felt the one who'd understand her the best. Ben and Angela knew they didn't want kids, after all, which made speaking of this to Ange relatively hard. Rose was a no go because she and Edward might as well have been conjoined twins with how much they shared.

"It's not that bad, B," Bree comforted, having left Emma with a sitter. "The initial shock is the worst part, and then you can start thinking about different things."

"I just... I'll have to put my career on hold. I wanted to finish my PhD before having kids, you know?" Bella sighed, then smiled guiltily. "Not that it's a bad thing."

Bree waved her away.

"I get what you're saying. It's not fun. I love Emma, but I also felt overwhelmed over her coming along when I'd just scored a job. But you can see me now, returning to finish my master's degree." Bree said, and secretly, she envied that Bella's biggest worry wasn't how to afford for her child, since she would obviously be supported by Edward.

"Yeah, you're right about that," Bella frowned to herself, digging into her burger. She didn't usually like them, but for some reason she's been craving them for a few days now. That, and Pocky. Well, now she knew why. She wasn't ravenous, but she also wolfed down the burger with surprising speed. "I just... don't feel ready. Edward's almost done with his fellowship, and I'm afraid this might throw him off."

"Like it's throwing you off?" Bree raised an eyebrow, defiant. "Come on Bella, I know you. You'll finish your first year of the PhD, then take a break to have your baby, read manga, and then get back on track. Your life won't end; you've got a lot of years to finish this. You can do some work from home, even take up tutoring again when you want. You've got options. It's just a matter of thinking about them."

-.-

"Bella?" Edward called out in the empty house, thinking of how he saw that his wife's bike wasn't home. It was a Friday night, and she was usually here by the time he came back. She'd been weird all week, which was starting to make him think there really was something wrong with her. She'd been withdrawn —not angry, more like... thinking. And thinking and thinking. He _hated_ it when his wife _thought_ —it usually meant she was doubting either of them, or thinking of something troublesome by herself.

Then he got a call.

"Love? Where are you?" He asked immediately, not even stopping to greet her.

"Hi Edgar," Bella's voice was indecipherable. "I actually need a ride. My bike broke down."

He was instantly out of the house again, worried sick about his wife somewhere out there, stranded.

"Where are you? I'm on my way."

"Remember the park where you took me the night Jasper broke up with me? That's where," Bella said, and muttering a quick grunt, Edward hung up, choosing to take his car.

What was she doing at that park? Had she met Jasper? If so, why? Edward knew that he and Alice were very serious, and it was only a matter of time before they sealed the deal. He didn't think Jasper was trying to get back together with Bella, a married woman, but then again, he'd seen the wistful eyes Whitlock had shot at his wife on their wedding day.

When Edward arrived, he was almost angrier than if Bella had been with her ex: she was alone. In a park. That was almost in the middle of nowhere.

Fuming, Edward got out of the car, stalking over to where his wife was, on the swings. Her bike was nowhere in sight, which confused him. Where was it?

"Wife." He greeted, coming to a stop in front of Bella.

"Husband," she returned, looking up at him. She still looked pensive, which he had to admit was a real oddity. Despite having known her for over five years, he'd never seen her think so hard about something.

"Bella," he said, anger flushing out of him. He knelt down so he was a bit below eye level with her. "What is it? You're weird."

She rolled her eyes.

"You always say that," she pointed out. He shrugged; it was true.

"I mean you're acting weirder. Why aren't you telling me what's bothering you?"

Instead of answering him, she looked at another spot.

"You know," Bella began thoughtfully. "I wanted to do this here because I feel this place means a lot to me. I haven't been here since I was nineteen, you know."

She was _definitely_ acting weirder.

"Do what?" He felt dread creeping up his stomach, and he let out his irrational fear. "You aren't going to ask for a divorce, are you? We haven't been together long enough for me to get a good alimony out of you."

Bella snorted.

"I'm not, but nice try. That's what my dowry was for," Bella winked at him, but continued nonetheless. "I ended my one other relationship here. Jasper broke up with me in Johnny Rocket's, but until we were here, talking because you brought me here, did I realize the weight of a relationship. Two people are involved, and their individual lives affect each other on many levels. I feel like since you and I married we lead one life, looked at through two different perspectives."

She paused, thanking Edward silently when he didn't interrupt her. She needed time to get the words out.

"I never gave it much thought to you being older than me, or that you were a doctor and I a college student. Those things were sort of pointless to think about, you know? Living together, I came to realize why those things _do_ matter, even if they don't define us. You've got your professional life in motion, while mine is just barely setting off. It's scary, thinking of how amazing you are while I'm still a student."

Again, he didn't interrupt. He knew there had to be a point to her rant.

"Which is why I'm divorcing you."

His mouth dropped, and he was about to kneel even further to beg when he caught her smug smile.

"That was for being annoying all week long."

 _You were mean to your bones, you know that? There I was, shaking in fear over you divorcing me, and all you thought was how you'd managed to pull one over on me._

 _Oh please, you knew what you were getting into. I've been doing that since the day we met... alright, maybe since the first time you and I really talked._

"I'd divorce you if I didn't love you so much," Edward said bluntly, sitting down with his legs crossed.

Still chuckling, Bella finally came clean.

"I want you to take what I previously said into consideration when I ask you to be a stay-at-home dad," Bella said easily enough, and Edward frowned.

"Why would I be—" Bella saw the exact moment it dawned on him what she meant.

 _You know Jace, the moment your dad realized I was pregnant, the face he made... I fell in love with him all over again._

 _You're so cheesy, mom._

"You're pregnant," Edward breathed out.

Lips wobbling, Bella nodded.

"Two months. Something went wrong with my birth control pill," she said suspiciously, but her accusation fell on deaf ears. Edward wasn't listening anymore.

"You're pregnant," Edward repeated. "With our child?"

"More like mine and Robert Pattinson's, but sure, you can help raise our lovechild."

The fact that he didn't reply to that teasing meant he really wasn't listening.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" Edward shouted, and his smile was so big it threatened to split his face in pieces.

 _Your dad only smiled that way four times during our whole relationship, kids. The first was during our wedding. The second and third was when he learned you were on the way, since during your birth he couldn't even smile with how much he cried. The fourth was when he realized there was a way to make me wash the dishes._

 _Which is it?_

 _I'd tell you, CC, but then I'd have to kill you._

 _Mom, don't say that sounding so serious_.

"And I'm going to be a mom," Bella said out loud for the first time, and an unexpected rush of happiness overwhelmed her. She'd been so worried, thinking of her career, how to break the news to Edward, how her life would unerringly change from here on out, that she'd hardly given it a thought how she felt about the life growing inside of her.

 _Mom, what was the first thing you thought when you found out_ I _was coming?_

 _"This time someone_ definitely _switched out my birth control."_

Bella felt joy pulsing through her veins, making her smile mirror Edward's almost identically. She was going to be a mother, and she had Edward with her as a partner and a father. Everything would be ok. The three of them would be happy together, no matter what.

After Bella and Edward had kissed each other over and over again, still delirious with happiness, Bella heard her husband ask one thing.

"You were kidding about Robert Pattinson, right?"

* * *

"That's it for today, kids. Class dismissed," Bella finished her lesson, smiling at the 'goodbyes' and 'thank yous' she heard directed her way.

"Professor Cullen."

"Sarah," Bella greeted back happily, looking at the bright eyed girl that came up to her desk. "Class just ended. You know it's ok to call me Bella."

After all, Sarah Crowley was Lauren's kid. It was her first year of college, and she was an undeclared major looking around to see what caught her interest. Lauren had begged Bella to let Sarah in as a listener, though she knew most professors in that college were against it.

"Right," Sarah gave her a sheepish grin. "Mom said she wanted to ask you if you could hold on to Noah after karate. She has a work thing she can't miss. It's just that I can drop him off, but I have to come back for class. She said it would be for two hours, tops."

 _Lauren, stop making me your nanny already._

Still, Bella just agreed. Noah was a seven-year-old sweetheart you couldn't help but love.

"Sure, honey. Tell her she owes me another one," Bella smiled to make sure the girl knew she was teasing. "Your dad still ok?"

Lauren and Tyler had separated when Sarah was ten, and because the split was amicable, they shared custody of Sarah. Lauren had found a new husband in no time flat and given birth to Noah Wesley, and Bella knew Sarah loved him like any sister loved their little brother.

Sarah shrugged.

"Don't see him much these days. I think I'm starting to like Eric better," she confessed, talking of her step-father. As far as Bella knew, Sarah had never disliked the man, but she'd resisted a lot the idea of her mother finding someone else.

"Eric's a nice guy," Bella said, then saw the time. "Crap. I've got to go plan the next class. Tell your mom I'll start charging if she's even a minute over two hours, alright?" Bella said hurriedly, and bidding adieu to her student, she fled to her office.

 _This_ professor had an office. Oh yeah.

She was also coming up to be an authority on Japanese history, but not biggy. It's not like she'd devoted the better part of her life to the country.

Bella was immersed in her papers when she heard a knock.

"Come in!" Bella called out, and the door creaked open. She didn't unglue her eyes from the papers in front of her until the person started talking and she had to stand up to introduce herself.

"Professor Cullen? Hi, I'm Mrs. Jackson, Hannah Jackson's mother?"

Ah, yes, the half Japanese troublesome girl. She was always on her phone in class and after throwing her out three times, she was forced to attend to her parents. Apparently, they found it horrible she'd throw out a student interrupting her class.

"Ah, yes, Mrs. Jackson. I'm Isabella Cullen, your daughter's—" The words died in her mouth and dried. In front of her was May Oyakawa —or May Jackson, as she now called herself, it seemed. "May?"

The Japanese woman blinked.

Gone was the sixteen-year-old girl she'd once known, and in her place was a grown Professor with a last name different than the one she'd known her with and an appearance that didn't match her eyes. The eyes were the dead giveaway; Isabella Swan had always had very peculiar eyes, filled with _something_ May hadn't been able to place.

"Isabella?" May parroted back. "Isabella Swan?" She paused. "Isabella Cullen now, it seems."

Bella nodded, showing the woman she'd guessed right.

"Do you still go by Bella?" May asked, and until now did Bella realize May Oyakawa's English had been perfected with the years. Time and practice made a world of difference.

"I do," Bella said, not knowing how to continue. So she decided to ask something standard. "How are you, May?"

"Good. Surprised to see you here. The last time I saw you you were still in high school."

What were the odds? That they'd see each other here, in Bella's teaching place, when they'd met in another school. It was so long ago.

"It's been a long time," Bella mused.

"How's... How's your brother?"

Not as subtle as May had hoped for, but it would have to do.

"Happy," Bella said simply. "Married with three children. Top notch in his own law firm." _Happy without you_ , the insecure teenager in her wanted to say. She didn't, because that wasn't May's question.

"Oh..." May trailed off. "And you? How are you?"

"Just as well. You know, teaching here. Married, too, but with two children. Jace and CC," Bella elaborated, feeling awkward with this woman she'd known so long ago. "I see you're Hannah's mother."

"Yeah. It's been twenty-one years since I had her," May pondered out loud. "I came here for her, but I don't think I'll have much luck stating a case if it's against you."

Bella shrugged unapologetically.

"Sorry May. Rules are rules, and I handed out a syllabus the first day of class. Hannah's a junior, and I expect a level of responsibility proportionate to her age," Bella said, not sitting back down on her chair. "I know it might seem fussy of me but—"

"No," May interrupted, but not meanly. "Remember I, too, was once a teacher. I seem to have forgotten how hard it is, having students pay attention to electronics more than to you. I'll speak with my daughter."

An uncomfortable silence fell over them, and then May took a step forward.

"I'm sorry," she said simply. Bella didn't know if May felt it; if she felt pressured to say it now that she knew a girl she'd once hurt now held power over her daughter. She wished that wasn't the case; she didn't want May thinking she was the kind of woman who held grudges after decades had gone by.

"For what?" Bella asked curiously, wondering if the older woman even remembered anymore. Time washed away old wounds, but also rusted knives.

"Speaking thoughtlessly, I suppose," May pondered it. "Saying harsh words. Hurting you."

Bella asked the one thing she'd been restless over for so many years.

"Why did you say those things?"

But May couldn't give her the answer she wanted.

"I don't know," May confessed, and Bella saw the truth in her face. "I've wondered the same thing many times. Why I'd say such things, why I thought I could get away with it. There's not a good enough reason, I imagine, to explain why things happened the way they did."

Bella frowned.

"Did you feel sorry then?"

May's gaze didn't waver from Bella's.

"Yes," she said. "But for me, over being caught. Many years went by before I became sorry to you and not to me. I see now life had happier plans for you than for me."

And though Bella saw what May meant, she didn't feel happy. She didn't feel victorious, like she'd imagined countless times she would if she ever saw May Oyakawa and looked or felt better than her. To Bella, there was only a fifty-something year old woman, looking worn and haggard and like life had thrown her battles she hadn't been prepared for. May wasn't who she'd been all those years ago, just as Bella wasn't who she'd been at sixteen. The insults Bella had been steadily growing throughout the years, destined for this woman, suddenly drained. They weren't important anymore; they were petty and childish.

"I wish you were happier than you seem." Bella said, surprising herself when she meant it.

May sighed, giving a low bow in goodbye.

"I wish I was happier than I am."

* * *

"Hey, Edward."

"Hey, Bella."

"I was thinking."

"Terrible vice, but carry on."

"I was thinking of how life is a chain of events. You know, the other day, when I met May Oyakawa, I wanted to hate her so much, but I kept having this thought. This absurd thought, that told me if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have met you."

"Her?"

"She dated my brother, and then they broke up. He was heartbroken over her, so he dated Victoria. He got better long enough to be alert of his instant connection with Rose. Because he didn't pass up his chance, he fell in love with her. If he hadn't, maybe Rose would've given in and dated you, and you'd be married to her, probably. If he hadn't dated Rose, you and I wouldn't have met. I'd probably be an old cat lady since I'd never have dated Jasper, because I'd never have gotten the motivation to work through my body issues, it being May's criticism. You and I would lead different lives which wouldn't involve Jace or CC... or each other."

"You'd be more of a dog lady."

"It's just... don't you find it amazing? How we've got this whole set of options we can choose from, and depending on which we go for, we have different lives. I just as well could've ended up marrying a Japanese man and you'd never have crossed paths with me."

"Ah, stop it, love. You know that the only path I could've ever chosen was the one that led me to you."

"You chose the road that led to me?"

"I did. I chose the road to you, Mrs. Cullen."

"And I chose the road to you, Mr. Cullen."

"Everyone's right. We're so cheesy."

"Not me. You started it."

 ** _The end_**

* * *

 **Or is it? I'm kidding, it is. I did as promised though and this chapter is super extra long. First of all, I want to thank every reviewer and reader that cheered me on with kind words, favorites and follows. You made me incredibly happy and inspired me to finish this story in record speed. Just to give you an idea, I finished this story in like four months or so, while _Chronicles of a Western Belle_ took me three _years_ to finish. And this story has a few thousand more words. So yeah, when you wonder to yourself if your reviews and likes makes a difference, it really does. **

**Second of all, I haven't started yet on that outtake I promised, but it should come in like February (if not for Valentine's, sometime after that). I have other non-fanfiction projects I'm working on, and for now I want to prioritize those (as well as college). I don't know when I might post another story, but hopefully, you'll want to check those out. :)**

 **Finally, hope you liked this chapter. I hope I solved all lingering questions and did justice to my quirky characters, as well as their children. If there's anything you were left itching to see, don't hesitate to tell me in the reviews. :)) Thank you for everything!**

 **Leah.**


	16. Outtake -The Time Bella Did The Dishes

**Disclaimer: It's a short outtake. I also don't own Twilight. (Also, if you got an alert, sorry. I just fixed a few grammatical mistakes and stuff but there's no actual update)**

* * *

Bella was having a mental breakdown.

"You're not having a mental breakdown, you moron," Angela, delicate as ever, rolled her eyes. "You're _horny_. There's a difference."

But was there really?

"You don't understand, Ange," Bella sighed in frustration. "I'm, like, _super_ horny, to the point I can't think straight." She was in Angela's apartment, collapsed on the couch. It had been a grueling day as a Teacher's Assistant, her job while she did her PhD; rewarding as it was to start being a teacher, most of it was very tedious work that had nothing to do with teaching. The professor she worked with, Professor Masen, was dead set on giving out work for the students to do that _she_ ended up grading. Adding to that the fact that he came onto her so strongly even _she_ noticed, and she was dead on her feet. However, she'd promised Angela to come help her organize the new apartment she and Ben lived in now.

"But I don't get it. Why haven't you— oh, right. Edward's out of town, right?" Angela asked sympathetically. Edward was in a congress of something or other, and was only due back the day after tomorrow. He'd been gone for three days already, and although Angela didn't know this, Bella had been on her period the six days prior to him leaving. Meaning she hadn't had sex in almost two weeks which, to her used-to-almost-daily-sex self felt like an eternity. Edward reasoned they should have as much sex as they could while he still didn't need to buy viagra. Bella, though knowing he wouldn't need it for like another fifteen years, had a surprisingly high sex drive when it came to Edward. When she' dated Jasper, she'd been ok with sex, maybe even content with it, but once a week or once every two weeks had been more than enough for her. This, though, had only been throughout the time before shit hit rock bottom. Oh well.

"Yeah," Bella pouted, stretching her neck. "It's been way too long."

"And you don't take care of things yourself?" Ange asked, too curious about Bella's sex life. Blushing furiously, Bella shook her head.

"I used to, before Edward. After we started having sex it was never quite the same to do it myself," she admitted, wishing the ground would swallow her. Talking about her sexual life with anyone other than Edward was torturous, which was why she always avoided the topic. Even with her gynecologist she always pushed the appointments back as much as she could, not wanting anyone to take a look up there.

"That's bullshit," Angela snorted, plopping down beside Bella and handing her a cold Diet Coke. "You should take care of yourself if you're so horny. Lay your own pleasure at your mercy."

Bella, though, had reached her limit of sex talk.

"Ange, what's the time?"

Taking the bait, her friend looked down at her watch.

"Seven thirty. Gonna head home already?"

Sighing, Bella nodded, gulping down as much as she could of the soda.

"Have an early start tomorrow," she said, then burped. Loudly. Giving Angela a sweet smile, she handed her back the Diet Coke, thanking her for the drink and ignoring the glare sent her way. "I'll text you when I get home, alright?"

They gave each other a tight hug.

"Take care, Mrs. Cullen," Angela teased, and as always, a thrill shot through the newlywed. She knew that maybe she'd be shunned by some women for thinking this way, but truly, it felt nice to feel like she _belonged_ to someone. Or, more specifically, to Edward. Even though she was her own person, and she was Bella first and a Cullen second, a part of her felt incredibly satisfied to feel like she and Edward were tied to each other, and that to the new people she met, she'd only have ever belonged next to Edward. She loved Tanya, Esme and Carlisle, and while it wasn't in the same way she loved her parents and brother, she'd still do whatever sacrifices necessary to keep them happy, because to keep them happy was too keep Edward happy. Maybe more women thought like her than she realized, but in her own scope of friends, it seemed like she was one of the few that had dreamed of having a husband to welcome home, a house and two point five children. For instance, though she knew Alice loved Jasper, she didn't particularly want children, and most of her decisions were made independently. Currently, for example, Alice was getting ready to travel to China for two months, and had suddenly informed Jasper of this. It had caused a huge fight, and right now they were holding on by a thread. Another example of this was Rose; she'd left for Doctors Without Borders for two years, basically putting on hold her relationship with Emmett. Bella knew Rose had done wonderful things, but while Em had been proud of her, he'd also had a couple of very rough years trying to keep together a long distance relationship.

In Bella's case, she'd dreamt of moving to Japan once, maybe even meeting a Japanese man and settling down in her favorite country. After Edward, though, she'd changed priorities, and was currently quite satisfied with only having been there for her honeymoon, although she planned on going back after getting her PhD. She knew some people, like Nyla, thought she was giving up on her dream. But she didn't _feel_ like she was giving it up, because instead she was building new hopes for her future. She could do without Japan, but she couldn't do without Edward. Even if by some awful turn of events she and Edward divorced, she felt like she'd have built enough for herself here to not feel like she 'missed her shot'. Life was long, though, and if she ever changed her mind, she'd just convince Edward to start taking Japanese classes with a focus on medical jargon.

How hard could it be?

(Answer: harder than learning how to do a Rubix cube without knowing the algorithm to do it... or learning German)

Thankfully for the Cullen clan, Bella never felt the need to move to Japan, although she insisted on going there every two years (two weeks with Edward, two weeks with colleagues and/or Edyth).

While thinking of all this, Bella pulled into the driveway to her house (cue sigh), incredibly tired and missing her husband terribly. They'd been married for three incredible months, and they'd hit the mark of knowing each other for five years a couple of weeks ago.

Married life was tough, Bella wasn't gonna lie. She did the book-keeping, acknowledging that though it wasn't like she did nothing all day, Edward didn't have the time to do it in the careful way she could. She hated it, but she also felt really proud every time she organized things well. She cooked breakfast and dinner, since neither of them were usually home for lunch; as always, she managed to delegate the dish washing to her husband, feeling it was a fair trade for cooking. Thankfully for the two of them, neither were slobs, so keeping the house neat was pretty simple, and because Bella believed in equal opportunities, she and Edward alternated house cleaning duties (except, of course, doing the dishes). The first few weeks Edward had sort of resisted, attempting to argue he was really too tired from work; unsympathetic, Bella told him they were a team, and they had to lean on each other. She wasn't a nineteenth century housewife, and she had a job, too, and had her own tiredness from work. Being a doctor was hard, sure, but he'd lived alone for a long time during which he'd done everything himself. He'd seen the light, and though Bella didn't tell him, she usually did help out here and there when it was his cleaning day.

The actual problem had come from one place: the bathroom.

Bella was a toilet hoarder.

In her defense, she was reading manga. Edward was one of the few men who didn't share this practice, fearing hemorrhoids too much. So he spent hours lecturing Bella, telling her she had to get out before she got sick. Sometimes, Bella slept with just a t-shirt and panties on, which meant that what usually broke the ice was when Edward saw the toilet seat imprinted on her ass and legs. Worried as he was about her, it was just too funny. Or like when in the middle of the night, when neither could sleep because they'd had a disagreement, Edward or Bella would accidentally fart, and then they'd laugh and forget about whatever was keeping them up. Neither held grudges for long, and this made their marriage incredibly better and easier.

Going in the house, Bella pondered over how blessed she was, heading directly to the kitchen.

She never went to bed on an empty stomach.

When she turned the light on in the kitchen, she almost staggered. In front of her was a buffet of Panda Express, and on a stool, Edward.

"Surprise! The congress actually ended today, and I couldn't wait to see you."

Poker face on, Bella got her phone out, ignoring Edward's confused face. He thought she'd be happier. Putting it to her ear, she pretended to call someone.

"Yeah, Tyson? Sorry, my husband came home earlier than expected. No, I told you already, he feeds me every once in a while, I can't leave him... Yeah, I'll hit you up when he travels again."

Mock angry, Bella stomped over to Edward.

"You see what you made me do? I had a hot night with my fake lover, and now I don't even have that," she said, laughing when Edward's confused frown melted into an indulging smile. "Welcome home, husband." Bella smiled brilliantly at him, slipping her hands behind his neck and tugging on the hair at the nape.

"You're insane, love," he said, putting his hands on her hips. "Are you happy I'm home?"

She walked into his open legs, giving him the tightest hug she was able to.

"Delirious," she said honestly, feeling as her body warmed with love. "I missed you," she admitted quietly, one of the rare times she was upfront about her feelings. She was cheesy, sure, but typically in such an exaggerated manner that Edward wasn't sure half the time she really meant it.

"I missed you, too." Edward said, resting his hands on her ass. It might've been his favorite body part on his wife. "I sleep awfully without you there."

Bella kissed the back of his neck.

"Sorry, but I sleep like a log with or without you," Bella lied, and both of them knew it. They were spoiled by each other's presence.

"Liar," Edward huffed, squeezing her tighter. Physical contact made them both feel like everything in the world would be alright. "Wanna eat?"

Glutton first, wife second, Bella instantly untangled from Edward and sat beside him so they could dig in.

"One day, you'll choose me over food," Edward grumbled, and the slight scowl faded when Bella kissed his forehead before starting to eat.

 _I am incredibly whipped._

They talked about their time apart. Neither was a huge fan of long talks on the phone or texting more than a morning or goodnight message, so they'd accumulated their stories to tell each other when they met again. Edward gave Bella the Spark Notes version of the congress, attempting to simplify medicine as much as he could. He liked sharing his work with Bella, even if she didn't always understand; he also felt incredibly grateful that she'd never told him to stop talking medicine because she didn't know much about it, nor had she ever said something like 'that's your thing, not mine'. In return, Bella told him of the classes of the week and what the students had learnt, teaching her husband of her own line of work. They'd done this even from the start of their relationship; sometimes they talked manga, other times they talked medicine or history, and many times they just gossiped about the lives of the people around them. Two hours went by like this, talking, eating and laughing.

"No," Bella gasped, laughing. "Rose really did that?"

Edward nodded seriously.

"I don't know which one of us was more mortified. She, who snorted all her wine onto Dr. Hamilton's face, or me, who fell out of my chair laughing," Edward laughed, having told Bella of one of the first medical conventions he and Rose had attended together.

"I'm pretty sure it was a tie," Bella chuckled, patting her full stomach. It had been a good meal, and better yet, there was no dishes to be washed.

Which reminded Edward.

"Idabelle," Edward began, squaring his shoulders. He turned so he was facing her square on, glaring. "Why the hell haven't you washed a single plate in the time I've been gone?"

Guiltily, Bella glanced at the disgusting mess on the sink. The rest of the house was impeccable as always, but the sink was a war zone.

"Um, I was too distraught over you being gone to do any washing," Bella lied. "I mean, my nail paint would chip, and it would do that every time I washed the dishes, so I'd have to do my nails every day. It'd be a waste of time, right?"

Edward glanced down at her unpolished nails.

"Stop judging me, alright? I don't say anything whenever you leave all of your toothpaste stuck on the sink, do I?" Bella snapped, huffing. She knew she was wrong, and she was a grown woman capable of doing the dishes, but it was hard for her to admit defeat.

"You do, every single time," Edward said, bewildered. "You also always manage to somehow shift my toothbrush so it's touching yours, and you know I love you, but that's disgusting."

Ok, so maybe she retaliated every once in a while.

"Why are you being so mean to me?" Bella cried, needing to back the fuck up out of this subject. She knew that avoiding the problem could sometimes be the only way to keep a marriage together.

"Because you can't just not wash the dishes whenever I'm gone, Bella! That's a serious health danger, and I won't be able to leave in peace if every time you're gonna have a pile of dirt in our sink!" Edward said, pointing emphatically at the aforementioned pile.

"What if I hire a maid when you're out of town so she does it for me?" Bella suggested hopefully, and Edward's answering glare vetoed it. Secretly, though, Bella would start putting aside money every month from their savings so that any time Edward would be out of town, someone would come in and do it for her. It took Edward about eleven years to find out what she'd been doing, but by then, it was too late. Bella would switch to making her children do them based on the absolute truth that she was their mother and they'd do the house chores she asked of them.

"No, you've gotta do them, Bells. _Today_ ," he said when he saw she was about to argue.

By then, though, the argumentative part of her had surfaced.

"Oh yeah? And I should do it because you _say so_?" Bella bit back, furious at the thought of being told what to do.

Surprising her, Edward kept his calm. He got off of the stool and came to stop in between her legs, green eyes scorching her. Pulse thumping, she watched as her husband dug his fingers through her hair and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Not because I say so, love. But because if you do, then we'll have sex tonight, and we can use that mirror I know you've been dying to use," he said, tugging on her earlobe. "If you don't, then I'll do them, but then I'll go to sleep and Heaven knows when we might get to use that mirror... if ever."

Edward had once promised her he'd stop watching _Dancing With the Stars_ (one of his favorite shows and one of her most hated ones) if she agreed not to wear a Catwoman bodysuit she'd gotten for Halloween. Two years later, and she knew that he hadn't watched it once, being a man of his word... and she had spies in the hospital. So when Edward threatened they'd never get to use the mirror, her stomach dropped to the floor. She wanted it more than she wanted Professor Masen to stop flirting with her, and more than she hated doing the dishes.

So she swallowed her pride.

"One condition though," Bella breathed out, excited to use the mirror. "You'll wear a blindfold."

Kinky, she normally wasn't. But when she got into it...

She shivered.

"We'll take turns with it, how about that?" Edward returned with a devilish grin, and knowing her husband was never one to disappoint, Bella agreed.

"Give me twenty minutes. I better find you naked and ready when I go up."

"See you in then."

* * *

"Ms. Cullen, would you come here for a moment?" Professor Masen asked, and snapping out of her daze, Bella went to his desk. She'd been picking up the assignments the students had left, totally gone as she thought of last night's adventures with Edward. Sexy, her husband was.

Which reminded her.

 _It's Mrs. Cullen_ , _you rat_ , Bella snapped in her thoughts, but didn't say it. She'd stopped reminding him after the fifteenth time (she had counted).

"Yes, Professor Masen?"

"Could you help me carry these to my next class? I was going to take them to the office now, but I don't think I have the time to do the trek there and be back in time for the following session." He requested, and though she wondered why he couldn't do that himself (the stack of papers was next to nothing), she saw no problem in doing as requested. Helping the professor sort of _was_ her job.

"Sure, Professor," Bella shrugged, going down the stairs within the room to approach the desk. "Anything else?"

He was strangely pleasant.

"Nothing else, Bella. Thanks."

Alrighty.

Bella and Professor Masen left the classroom together, heading calmly to the next lesson. It wasn't that the man creeped her out, or was mean or even childish, but he was too pushy, and Bella didn't know how to deal with a pushy person that wasn't Edward. Even then, when they'd started dating, it had been because Edward had known when to pull back, and had understood Bells's need for a slow pace without letting her drift away.

Sometimes, all it took was meeting the right person.

The next lesson went by much faster, with Bella again drifting in and out of class by thinking about the previous night's activities. Twenty minutes before class ended, she got a text from her husband.

 **Where should I pick you up?** —E

Today, Bella had taken Edward's car instead of her bike, since it was getting detailed. Then, just as she'd been pulling into the university's parking lot, it had broken down. She'd called a tow truck, and now the car was sitting in Jake's buddy's workshop. When she'd told Edward of what had happened, he'd immediately said he'd pick her up, since today was one of the few days he got out from work a little bit before her.

 **South entrance. I have to drop stuff off at M's office.** —B

 **Ok**. —E

When class let out, Bella practically skipped all the way to Masen's office, ready to dump the pile of papers on his desk and go home. Surprisingly, Masen was nowhere to be found; he hadn't followed her to the office, and when she went out, she didn't find him lurking by the door. Shrugging it off, Bella started whistling the theme song to Big Bang Theory as she made her way to the south entrance, which was the nearest exit.

There, however, she found the professor.

"Hey Bella," Masen smiled; he was handsome, sure, and especially when he grinned, but Bella wasn't interested. She loved Edward too much, and in all honesty, just judging by the exterior Edward was even better. So when he smiled at her, she smiled back on reflex. "Since your car broke down, I thought I could give you a ride."

She'd been like seven minutes late to class, and she'd had to justify herself for her tardiness somehow. The truth had seemed like a good idea at the time.

"Oh, it's fine, Professor Masen," Bella smiled sweetly, hearing the rumble of Gertrude coming in. Sure, it could've been any other bike, but Bella liked thinking she was that in tune with Edward's ride. "I wouldn't want to impose on you."

"It's really not a problem at all, Isabella," he said, grating on her nerves. "I'd much rather take you home and be sure you're alright. It's very late."

It was eight, and night hadn't even completely fallen yet.

"Besides," Professor Masen continued, taking a step closer to her. "I thought maybe we could... stop by for coffee or something."

 _Ew_. Every single hair in her body stood on end after hearing the innuendo in his voice. Coffee, right.

Then she was saved by her knight in shining armor (leather jacket).

"Her husband might have a problem with that," Bella heard, then felt an arm come around her shoulders. "I'm Edward Cullen, Bella's husband."

He even stretched a hand out.

Pale, Professor Masen looked between Edward's hand and Bella's eyes, unsure if his leg was being pulled.

It really wasn't.

"Robert Masen, Bella's boss," Masen smiled tightly, grabbing Edward's hand.

Bella swore she could see the blood stop flowing in the professor's hand.

"Well, Professor Masen, thanks for the invite, but as you can see, my husband's here to pick me up." Bella smiled sweetly, and her smile widened when she felt Edward press a kiss on her head. "See you tomorrow."

Still pale, Masen nodded robotically, then watched Bella get behind Edward in the bike and head off.

At home, Edward and Bella went in quietly, for once not going directly to the kitchen.

They headed to the living room, sitting down on the couch. On reflex, Edward turned on the TV, and a reality show almost blinded their eyes and left them deaf. Putting it on mute, and blinking owlishly, the couple turned to each other.

They promptly burst out laughing.

"Did you see his face?" Bella cried between heaves of laughter.

"That's the best thing I've seen all day," Edward laughed, feeling like his abs were about to give out.

"And when you —and then he—" Bella couldn't even finish, just leaning into her husband and trying to get a hold of herself. Suddenly, she remembered something else that was incredibly hilarious, and started laughing even harder.

"What is it?" Edward asked, his laughter finally calming down.

"I just remembered—" Bella bit back her laughter, searching for it. "This!"

She showed him a meme. It said 'That awkward moment when the statue of Mona Lisa looks like Keith Urban', and below, the picture of the Statue of Liberty and Owen Wilson. Bella had found it hysterical, and when Edward started laughing about it, her laughter renewed itself.

There was a solid five minutes of intense laughter, where one would start to calm down, see the meme or see the other and start laughing again.

By the end of it, Bella couldn't see from crying, Edward was laughing at Bella, and neither could move from their positions on the couch because moving hurt their stomachs too much.

Then there was two minutes of the last chuckles.

Then they finally let it go.

"I love you," Bella said, wiping her tears away. "So much, Edgar."

She laid her head down on his shoulder.

"I love you too, Idabelle," Edward said, holding her hand. He lifted it to his lips and gave it a soft kiss, needing to convey how happy he was and how much she meant to him.

 _We loved with a love that was more than love. It was friendship, it was family, it was laughter, it was anger, it was companionship, it was sex, it was beauty, it was pain. Our love was everything, and it carried us through life in a way nothing else could possibly have._

* * *

 **Hi! So, as promised, here is the outtake I promised, just before Valentine's (I guess for some people it's already the 14th though, so happy Valentine's in that case!). I'm actually supposed to be studying right now for a test, or doing a project, but oh well. It's why the oneshot isn't that long (that, and I couldn't decide what to do so I did whatever).**

 **Leah.**

 **P. S. Funny story, I actually did spend a solid eight minutes laughing on and off because of a meme like a month ago, though I was with friends. I love this one, but the one that cracked me up is one of a girl who crashed her face into the backseat and left an imprint of her face/makeup (I tried showing my mom, but she just thought it was mean, even though I was like, 'But the girl herself posted it herself and said everyone was fine!'). So, I showed my friends one by one, and the thing is every time I showed someone new I started a new laughing fit all over again. To clarify, we were like nine people in the room, so you can imagine when I say I laughed for eight minutes I'm underestimating it. (I actually started laughing now while recalling the meme)**

 **P. P. S. Thank you _so_ much for all of your kind messages. I cannot stress enough how much it means to me when I see your kind words. The 'thanks for sharing's, smiley faces, and the compliments on my writing style or plot make me feel incredibly lucky. It feels (good) weird to have such an overwhelmingly good response, and it gives me a lot of hope about how nice people can be. I hope you know that I wrote this with the best intentions, and maybe you'll take away one or two messages from this story. If I had to say what I'd like most to have conveyed is this: being happy is all about the people in your life. Choose people who make you feel good, who make you laugh, who support you. Don't hold grudges, justified as you may feel; they rot you inside, and give far more importance to the other person than they deserve. Lastly, hopefully, get yourself an Edward and be a Bella. Have someone who supports you and loves you, and be someone who is kind and loves with all their heart. **

**P. P. P. S. I don't want anyone to misunderstand, so let me say it again. Don't give up your dreams for a relationship, wonderful as it might be. Your dreams can change, and that's a different thing. Sometimes life leads us to a different place than we thought we'd be. If your dream is to be a mother, or to be a scholar, or to be a jeweler or a doctor or a PA or whatever... they're good dreams. My characters have high educational aspirations because that's how I was brought up, but it doesn't mean that anything else isn't as valuable and good. Hopefully, I didn't step on any toes, and if I did, I'm really really sorry.**


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